The juxtaposition of two items on the Kan Bet news reel Sunday morning was jarring.
One report dealt with the deaths on Friday of three soldiers and the wounding of 14 others, six of them in serious condition, in a booby-trapped house in Khan Yunis. The other report was that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the embassy in Washington not to help senior cabinet and war minister member Benny Gantz set up any meetings during his current trip to Washington.
On the one hand, a heart-wrenching reminder that a brutal war is grinding on that is extracting a painful toll in the daily deaths of Israeli soldiers. On the other hand, it is a squirm-worthy reminder that petty politics is once again clouding the vision of the country’s leaders.
Even as IDF soldiers continue to fall in Gaza, Netanyahu and Gantz are sparring over protocol, prestige, and power – definitely not a good look right now. If you are fighting in Gaza, if you have a relative being held hostage in Gaza, if you have relatives fighting in Gaza, to see a return of this type of politics seems very small.If the country’s top leaders cannot come to an agreement on an issue as straightforward as a trip by a senior minister to Washington, then what does that say about their decision-making ability regarding other aspects of the war?
Message of unity
At a joint press conference with Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at the time, Gantz said, “Our standing here today, shoulder to shoulder, is a clear message to our enemies, and more important than that, a message to all the citizens of Israel, that we are together, that we are all mobilized.”This was a powerful message. And there was something reassuring – as the war progressed in the early stages – seeing Netanyahu, Gallant, and Gantz, bitter political rivals, sitting on the same podium at joint press conferences and essentially reading from the same page. That conveyed a sense of solidarity to the country that, as a result of October 7, the country’s political rivals were – at least for the time being – looking at the bigger picture, at winning this war.Slowly, the bigger picture is becoming clouded by politics.Just as the sight of Netanyahu, Gallant, and Gantz holding joint press conferences for a few weeks conveyed a message of working together, their failure to have held these joint press conferences since late December sends the opposite message: that they aren’t working together.And that is a worrisome message to send a nation at war; a nation that thirsts for reassurance, as its sons and daughters are risking their lives fighting, that its leaders are working together harmoniously.But, apparently, the leaders are not working together harmoniously. If they were, then Gallant would not have done an end-around Netanyahu last week, giving Gantz veto power – unbeknownst to Netanyahu – of any new plan to draft haredim.If they were working together harmoniously, Gantz would not have decided on his own to travel to the US for talks with administration officials and congressional representatives, and Netanyahu would not have strenuously objected and reportedly told Gantz that “Israel only has one prime minister.”All those are signs of disharmony.Neither Netanyahu nor Gantz comes out of this Washington affair looking particularly good.Why is Gantz insistent on going to Washington over the prime minister’s objections? Why does the prime minister object so strenuously?Gantz’s supporters will say that he is motivated by the country’s interests. They argue that as Israel’s legitimacy for continuing the war diminishes in Washington with each passing day, and with incidents such as the humanitarian aid tragedy last week, it is important for Gantz to go there and shore up support in the administration.According to this argument, Gantz is better able to do this than Netanyahu, whose relationship with US President Joe Biden is believed to be strained and who is anathema to some Congressional Democrats. Israel, Gantz’s camp argues, needs America’s continued support – moral, diplomatic, and material – and Gantz can help ensure it.
Then why would Netanyahu oppose it?
Because Gantz is clobbering him in all the polls, there is increasing talk of early elections, and this is an opportunity for Gantz to look prime ministerial at Netanyahu’s expense during a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris in the White House.
Plus, there is suspicion in Netanyahu’s camp that the US administration prefers Gantz, would love to see him replace the prime minister, and is interested in boosting his standing with the Israeli public -- something such a vist very well may do.
All of the above may be true. Gantz may genuinely believe his visit will shore up support. He also may see this as an opportunity to score political points, which is why Netanyahu is so adamantly opposed, even though the visit could further Israel’s interests and shore up support in Washington.
Regardless, on a day on which the country is mourning additional fallen soldiers, the prime minister’s directive to the embassy in Washington, instructing them not to facilitate meetings for a senior minister with top US officials, sends precisely the wrong message.
To Israel’s enemies, it conveys a perception that its leaders are quarreling at a most delicate and sensitive moment, when unity in the government is what should be projected. And domestically it reflects a pettiness that one hoped would have been overcome by the war effort and the horrible weekly toll of fallen soldiers.