We have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for Eurasia Group and its affiliates, including GZERO Media, to clarify the types of data we collect, how we collect it, how we use data and with whom we share data. By using our website you consent to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, including the transfer of your personal data to the United States from your country of residence, and our use of cookies described in our Cookie Policy.
{{ subpage.title }}
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators wave Palestinian flags outside Union Station, on the day of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to a joint meeting of Congress on Capitol Hill, in Washington, U.S., July 24, 2024.
Bibi calls for anti-Iran alliance in Congress as thousands protest
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress Wednesday afternoon amid protests both inside and outside the US Capitol. He framed the war with Hamas as part of a larger conflict between the United States and Iran, and proposed an alliance of anti-Iran nations to be called “The Abraham Alliance.”
In doing so, Netanyahu cast Israeli troops as fighting on the frontlines for American interests, echoing similar sentiments about Ukrainians fighting on behalf of Western democracy. That said, he thanked President Joe Biden multiple times for his support and also lavished praise on former President Donald Trump. He’ll meet with both men this week before going home.
“It was a curious speech. On the one hand, Netanyahu went out of his way to thank Biden and note Israel’s debt to the US, and then followed it up immediately by listing Trump’s achievements,” noted Eurasia Group expert Greg Brew. “But overall, it struck the expected tone, emphasizing that Israel’s confrontation with Iran was really about protecting America.”
Netanyahu’s speech met with mostly warm reception in the halls of Congress, though a few boos were occasionally audible amid the applause. However, over 100 Congressional staffers called in sick in a coordinated protest action, and Vice President and presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris declined to attend due to a scheduling conflict.
On the streets around Capitol Hill, more than 5,000 people — whom Netanyahu called “Iran’s useful idiots” — marched in protest. They chanted “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free,” and accused Netanyahu of genocide, while also directing considerable invective at riot gear-clad police lining the route. Around 1:40 p.m., GZERO witnessed police on Constitution Avenue detonate a tear gas canister, which caused a mild panic in the crowd and forced at least six protesters to seek care from on-site medics.
Speakers at a rally held before the march praised pro-Palestinian activists for their efforts in the US. “The reason Joe Biden is not at the top of the nomination for the Democratic Party today is because of you, my friends,” said activist Linda Sarsour, addressing the crowd. “The reason why Kamala Harris is not presiding over the war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech is because of you.”
But few at the rally expressed hope for much change from a potential Harris administration — though Gabriel, 68, a retired driver from Maryland, said he thought Harris might “see Palestinians with more empathy.”
We’re watching how Harris talks about Israel on the campaign trail, as well as whether the young people who showed up in Washington will reignite protests on college campuses this fall.
Palestinians flee the area after an Israeli attack on July 13, 2024 in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip.
Hamas says Mohammed Deif lives and denies halting truce talks
Hamas claimed it had not withdrawn from Gaza truce talks on Sunday, despite earlier reports to the contrary, after Saturday’s Israeli offensive targeted Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif. Hamas says Deif survived, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Deif’s fate remains unclear. The strike killed 92 other Palestinians, including women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
A Hamas official described the attacks as a “grave escalation” that showed Israel was not interested in reaching a cease-fire agreement, but Hamas’s military strategy also does not facilitate this objective. A weekend report from the New York Times, for example, details how Hamas fighters embed their operations within civilian areas, ensuring that any Israeli action produces heavy casualties. Hamas fighters often use a system of lookouts, including children, to monitor Israeli movements before emerging in plain clothes to launch surprise attacks and meld back into the local population.
This accomplishes Hamas’s real goal of dragging out the conflict with Israel, undermining the Jewish state and isolating it on the international stage.As far back as November 2023, Khalil al-Hayya, a deputy to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, said “This battle … did not seek to improve the situation in Gaza. This battle is to completely overthrow the situation.”
With the conflictnow increasingly expanding to include Hezbollah, Hamas may be dangerously close to achieving this goal. The losers, of course, are both the Palestinian inhabitants of Gaza and the people of Israel, desperate for the return of the over 100 hostages still held by Hamas, as well as Jews around the world now subject to a surge in antisemitic attacks.
FILE PHOTO: Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks during his meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (not pictured) at the Pentagon in Washington, U.S., March 26, 2024.
Israeli leaders visit Washington amid rising tensions
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant traveled to Washington, DC, this weekend to discuss the final phase of Israel’s offensive in Gaza — and to address growing concern over hostilities with the Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah.
Since Hamas’ attacks of Oct. 7, Hezbollah has ramped up its rocket and drone attacks on Israel, forcing the evacuation of northern border towns. Now, as Israel targets the last Hamas strongholds in Gaza, the concern is that the conflict could shift north to Lebanon.Last Wednesday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah posted a video threatening to destroy key Israeli infrastructure with missiles if they are attacked.
The London Sunday Telegraph reported a significant increase in Iranian shipments of rockets to the group via Beirut's Rafic Al Hariri International Airport. “We are prepared for any action in Gaza, Lebanon, and more areas,” Gallant said before meeting US officials this week.
Netanyahu’s DC drama. Meanwhile, the politics are becoming increasingly perilous on Capitol Hill. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to address the US Congress on July 24, and many Democrats are conflicted about whether to attend. After Bibi released a video last week chastising Washington for withholding military aid – the US has only withheld one shipment while providing $12 billion in aid since Oct. 7 – some fear furthernegativity about US support for Israel from Bibi could complicate Biden’s reelection campaign.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a cabinet meeting at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem on June 5, 2024.
Bibi bites the hand that feeds him
The White House is scratching its head after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a video published Tuesday, accused the Biden administration of “withholding weapons and ammunitions” from the Jewish state over “the past few months.”
“We genuinely do not know what he is talking about. We just don't,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierresaid in response to Netanyahu’s comments.
The reality. The US has withheld just one shipment of bombs to Israel since its war with Hamas began in October. Meanwhile, the US has sent billions worth of arms to Israel, which has led to criticism of President Joe Biden by young voters and progressives in Washington.
Bibi’s rationale. It’s unclear why Netanyahu would bite the hand that feeds him. Is it possible he’s laying the foundations for a political attack to try and undermine Biden in the runup to November’s election? Donald Trump, after all, instituted policies as president that aligned with Netanyahu’s agenda, such as moving the US embassy to Jerusalem.
Alternatively, Netanyahu may just be trying to draw attention away from Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza, especially in light of a new UN report saying Israel “may have repeatedly violated fundamental principles of the laws of war” in its bombing of densely populated areas of Gaza.
In the days ahead, we’ll be watching to see whether Netanyahu’s comments lead to any changes in the Biden administration’s policy toward Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a cabinet meeting at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem on June 5, 2024.
Does Bibi see a benefit to war with Hezbollah?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday warned that Israel was ready for “very intense action” near its border with Lebanon amid rising tensions with the powerful Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
The question of whether Israel will open up a two-front war by launching an offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon has been looming over the region since Hamas attacked on Oct. 7 and the devastating conflict in Gaza began. On Thursday, an Israeli air strike on a UN school packed with hundreds of displaced Palestinians in central Gaza reportedly killed at least 35 people.
For months, Israel and Hamas have routinely traded cross-border fire – often with deadly consequences. Tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border have been pushed out of their homes because by hostilities. Hezbollah rocket attacks led to wildfires in northern Israel this week.
Netanyahu is now facing pressure from far-right members of his coalition government to take action. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir in a Telegram post on Wednesday said, “All Hezbollah strongholds must be burned and destroyed. War!”
This comes as even US President Joe Biden, one of Israel’s few steadfast allies on the global stage, says it’s not unfair to conclude that Netanyahu sees the war in Gaza as a political lifeline. It’s possible that the Israeli leader might now view an offensive against Hezbollah as another support beam for his flimsy coalition.
Regardless, the US and other major powers have been working for months to avoid seeing the Gaza war spark a wider conflict, which would only inject more chaos into the region. We’ll be watching to see what Netnayahu’s next move is in the days ahead.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Cabinet minister Benny Gantz during a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv , Israel , 28 October 2023.
Benny vs. Bibi
The centrist political party of Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz on Thursday submitted a bill to dissolve parliament, which would lead to early elections.
This is a pretty obvious attempt to oust Benjamin Netanyahu, a longtime rival of Gantz — who in April issued a call for elections to be held in September and recently set a June 8 deadline for the prime minister to deliver a postwar plan for Gaza or he’ll leave the cabinet.
But it’s not clear if Gantz’s National Unity party has enough support to get the measure across the finish line. Netanyahu’s Likud party leads a 64-seat coalition in Israel’s 120-member parliament, while Gantz’s party has just eight seats. National Unity is therefore unlikely to bring the bill to a vote unless it’s clear that a majority would support it. Unsurprisingly, Likud decried the move to dissolve parliament, saying that breaking apart the government would hurt the war effort.
This also comes as Bibi’s popularity, which cratered after Oct. 7, appears to be rebounding. A recent poll found that more Israelis (36%) say Bibi is better suited to be prime minister than Gantz (30%). So, even if elections were held in the near future, the vote wouldn’t necessarily go in Gantz’s favor.Palestinians search for food among burnt debris in the aftermath of an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced people, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on May 27, 2024.
Rafah refugee deaths draw condemnation
“A tragic mistake.” With those words, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahuattempted to mitigate the fallout from last week’s airstrike in Rafah that killed 45 Palestinians sheltering in a refugee camp. The US National Security Council expressed heartbreak over the “devastating images,” and French President Emmanuel Macron called for an immediate cease-fire. Germany and Qatar also criticized the attacks, stressing the need for better protection of civilians.
“We are investigating the case and will draw conclusions because this is our policy,” Netanyahu told the Knesset on Monday. “For us it’s a tragedy, for Hamas it’s a strategy.”
But the deaths have intensified scrutiny of Israel, with the UN and international courts demanding a halt to the Rafah offensive. They also come as three European countries — Ireland, Norway, and Spain — are set to recognize Palestinian statehood on Tuesday. Israel described the decision as “rewarding terrorism” and recalled its envoys from the three countries for urgent consultations.
Amid the chaos, new peace negotiations are apparently set to commence, “led by the mediators, Egypt, and Qatar and with active US involvement,” according to a source who spoke with Reuters. However, Hamas later told the news agency that "there is no date" for the talks to resume.Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant during a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv , Israel , 28 October 2023.
What happens if the ICC issues an arrest warrant for Netanyahu?
The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, on Monday announced that he’s seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas leaders over allegations of war crimes on and since Oct. 7.
Israel’s top diplomat called the decision a “disgrace.”
This marks the first time the court has targeted the leader of a top US ally. President Joe Biden on Monday condemned the ICC’s move against Bibi as “outrageous,” even as his administration increasingly decries Israel’s conduct in the Gaza war.
Neither the US nor Israel recognize the court’s jurisdiction, though last year Biden said an ICC arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin was “justified.”
What’s next? A three-judge panel will decide whether to issue the warrants. If this happens, it would further isolate Israel on the global stage, but Netanyahu would not face immediate arrest because the ICC has no police force.
Still, an arrest warrant could severely limit Netanyahu’s ability to travel. The ICC’s 124 member states, including every EU country, would be obligated to arrest him. Putin canceled a trip to South Africa last year after the ICC issued his arrest warrant. Hamas leaders, already considered terrorists by the West, would face similar obstacles.
Meanwhile, even just the prospect of ICC warrants for Israeli leaders has already seen Republican lawmakers in Washington threaten Khan with sanctions.