The United States and Israel have had a close and special relationship for more than 75 years, grounded in Israel’s unique position as the only democracy in the Middle East and a stable partner in a volatile region.
But what Israel brings to the deal now is harder to see day by day. The long and increasingly extreme tenure of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is starting to seriously test its limits.
For our part, the United States delivers for Israel by preventing the UN Security Council from condemning Israel’s policies, and by providing nearly $4 billion to Israel annually in military assistance. Israel has been the largest recipient of U.S. foreign assistance since 1948, receiving $158 billion total (in current dollars) since that time. U.S. politicians on both sides of the aisle have vigorously defended this partnership as unbreakable and historic.
But many of Israel’s actions over the years should have garnered greater scrutiny from America. For decades, Israel has occupied the West Bank and Gaza and institutionalized discrimination against the Palestinian people, in the name of security. At various times those security concerns have felt more justified than others, but it has never earned more than tepid rebuke from the United States.
More recently, Israel has put to rest any illusions of seeking a peaceful resolution to the Palestinian question by doubling down on expanding Israeli settlements within the occupied territories. This has been rightfully called out as a flagrant violation of international law, but failed to dim U.S. support for the Jewish state.
Netanyahu’s confidence in continued U.S. support was evident during the Obama administration, when he didn’t hesitate to enter the U.S. political fray by taking his case against President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran directly to Congress. Despite this clear embarrassment, the administration continued its robust military and political support.
But what’s happening today is different, for Israel and possibly for the U.S.-Israeli relationship too.
Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, the most religiously conservative and extreme in the country’s history, introduced legislation to severely curb the independence of the judiciary, giving a political committee a veto on judicial acts. Widely believed to be an effort to insulate Netanyahu from his own legal troubles, the move infuriated the Israeli public, which took to the streets.
Supporting the Israeli government now means going against the clear will of the Israeli people.
Protests continued for weeks, and a strike closed Israel’s embassies around the world and grounded international flights. Things really heated up when military reservists joined in, prompting the defense minister to call on Netanyahu to pause the reforms in the name of national security. When Netanyahu fired the minister in response, he fueled even bigger protests from a population that reveres its military.
Then Netanyahu blinked.
After all, in countries where an authoritarian wannabe cannot call on the security services to do his bidding, people power still packs a punch. A political leader cannot take on the whole country if the army isn’t with him, and Israel’s army most certainly was not.
Netanyahu’s response was only to pause the reforms though until after the Passover recess, so this threat to Israel’s democracy remains, and public protests continue.
Will Netanyahu learn from his overreach and rein in the overtness of his authoritarian tendencies? Or has he passed the point of no return with the outrageous alliance he’s made with Israel’s extreme right? And how will the United States respond if it’s the latter?
Only time will tell if this is a turning point for Israel or merely a speed bump on the way to autocracy. It’s an ominous sign though that Netanyahu secured the pause in the judicial overhaul by agreeing to the formation of a civil “national guard” under the control of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right extremist who’s been convicted of supporting a terrorist organization and incitement to racism. Perhaps Netanyahu’s solution to his people power problem is to create a private army that will bend to his (or his coalition’s) will.
Having squandered years of potential influence on Israel’s direction by offering unconditional support, the United States may have little sway over what comes next. But it can withdraw or severely curtail its support if Israel continues down the authoritarian path.
We’ve wasted influence before on dictatorial regimes that grow strong in part from our generous support but ultimately refuse to align with us in return. Look no further than Saudi Arabia’s latest oil production cut to understand the limits of influence such partnerships provide. Staying the course now only makes us complicit in Netanyahu’s bad acts.
President Joe Biden has made much of the global contest between democracies and autocracies, calling the defense of democracy the defining challenge of our time. He has called on democracies to work together to thwart the growth of autocracies worldwide. Netanyahu may soon give him an opportunity to prove that he means it.
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ABOUT THE WRITER
Elizabeth Shackelford is a senior fellow on U.S. foreign policy with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. She was previously a U.S. diplomat and is the author of “The Dissent Channel: American Diplomacy in a Dishonest Age.”
