The U.S.-Israel Relationship

When Congress takes a recess as they are doing this week, most Members return to their districts, but many Members travel to places around the country and the world related to their committee work. At the present time there appear to be at least three congressional delegations (co-dels) in Israel; at least two groups of House Members as well several Senators. Other than creating enormous scheduling nightmares for the staff in the Israeli Foreign Ministry, these visits appear to be signaling a renewed attention in U.S.-Israel relations in the Biden-Bennett era especially among Democrats.

These co-dels arrived days after the Israeli Knesset passed a budget for the first time in three and a half years; as well as after Congress passed the infrastructure bill. While Members of Congress are well acquainted with operating their Government with a continuing resolution, the idea that the previous Governments of Binyamin Netanyahu could not negotiate a compromise on the budget for over three years must even make the Washingtonians incredulous.

As with all budgets the proof of the pudding is in the eating. It will remain to be seen how the budgetary allocations ultimately are implemented; how the Israeli bureaucracy operationalizes its appropriations. Given the fact that the Bennett Government has now bought itself considerable time with the passage of the budget, there is reason to believe that this new Government might well continue even into the turnover to Yair Lapid after the first two years. While former Prime Minister Netanyahu is still threatening to curtail the life and success of this new Government, there is much that is surprising both domestically and internationally in Naftali Bennett’s success.

The Members of Congress are seeing first-hand what a “not Netanyahu” Government can be like. Even during the interminable parliamentary debates over the budget, the Prime Minister demonstrated a style that was refreshing because of its traditionalism. While many in the Israeli public have soured on Bibi and want him to disappear from the political stage, he has his rabid fans. At the same time, however, the former prime minister is not receiving the type of “respect” that he believes he deserves. While he may still consider himself to be the national leader but unlike Donald Trump, Netanyahu’s charm and attractiveness are wearing off, even members of his own Likud Party followers.

For the Americans as they consider various aspects of U.S. and Israel’s global, strategic, and tactical relationship, they must have been delighted to be dealing with an Israeli Prime Minister who does not view every conversation as a confrontation. It is very clear as well that both Bennett as well as Foreign Minister Yair Lapid had no problem meeting with the J Street delegation, something Bibi consistently had refused to do. These meetings included Representative Jamal Bowman who is a freshman member of “the Squad”, the most outspoken group of progressive Democrats in the House.

As he did apparently in his virtual merry-go-round of 30-minute sidebar meetings with other world leaders in Glasgow at the COP26 climate change conference, it appears that Bennett is receiving good marks not only as a strong advocate for his country but also as a good listener. No doubt the Members of Congress were also pleased with Bennett’s contacts with Egyptian President Sisi, as well as Jordan’s participation in the recent multi-national air force maneuvers in Israel.

The American legislators were very interested in discussing a wide array of issues. These included: Israel’s views on renewed Iranian nuclear negotiations; expansion of the Abraham Accords; possible resumption of contacts with the Palestinians Authority; expansion of economic opportunities for Israeli Arabs; increased jobs for Arabs from the West Bank and Gaza; as well as possible restraint by Israel of its proposed West Bank settlement expansion.

Most interesting to assess will be how the Members of Congress and the Israelis handled the question of Washington’s re-opening of the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, which had been closed by the Trump Administration. If a compromise can be reached, it will demonstrate that a right-wing led Israeli Government can manage to reach an understanding with a center-left American Administration without making the decision a test of egos.

Based on what has been reported to date, it is likely that most of the Members of both the House and the Senate felt positive about the character of their discussions. As has been apparent already, Bennett and his Government are very interested in resetting the U.S.-Israel relationship as is President Biden, to the pre-Netanyahu and pre-Trump era. Both Bennett and Lapid appear to have come across as thoughtful, reasonable, and non-defensive interlocutors. This could go far to re-setting the U.S.-Israel relationship as rebuilding fences with Democrats in Congress.