Image generated with AI by the author using OpenArtIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has just completed his fourth address to the U.S. Congress. Scheduled for primetime in Israel, Netanyahu leveraged the speech to strengthen his domestic political standing at a time when his coalition partners are one step away from leaving the government. It also comes at a time when the Prime Minister will have to make the fateful decision of whether to sign a ceasefire agreement with Hamas that will pave the way for a quieting of tensions with Hezbollah. One could not have picked better timing for the PM to receive a nonstop standing ovation from an enthusiastic U.S. Congress.Beyond the PM’s clear political goals in giving the headline-grabbing speech, a deeper question is whether we learned anything from the speech that we did not know before. Here are my 3 key takeaways:
#1 Bibi is Too Weak to Play Partisan Politics
One of the greatest stains on Bibi’s diplomatic legacy is his multi-year antagonization of the Democratic Party. In the years leading up to the war, Bibi cooperated with Republican members of Congress to fight back against former President Obama’s soft diplomatic approach to Iran and open criticism of Israel’s policies in the West Bank and Gaza. When former President Trump came to power, Netanyahu publicly sided with Trump and further antagonized…
