Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has long spoken of his close political and personal relationship with the United States. Through it he seeks to persuade Israelis that there is no alternative to him to lead the country.
Netanyahu, who spent a large part of his childhood and adolescence in the United States, speaks fluently with an American accent. It is said that he has influenced one US president after another by drawing on his particular understanding of American politics. Through this he has tried to hold on to US presidents’ steadfast support for Israel and for his own political objectives.
For a time it appeared that Donald Trump was the most sympathetic of all past US presidents towards Israel, and towards Netanyahu in particular. That impression was strengthened when Trump agreed to join Israel in the offensive against Iran, since he is the first US president to have taken such a decision.
Doubts have now arisen about that impression, however, as the war against Iran has stalled, as Trump’s interest in reaching an understanding with Iran without Israel’s input in the Middle East has grown, and as criticism of Israel in the United States has intensified. A view has now taken hold in Israel that Netanyahu’s “Trump card” may not work as it once did.
This has come at a time when Netanyahu is himself under various pressures. He must fight a national election late in October. At the same time he is on trial in a corruption case at home. Several conflicts in the Middle East also remain unresolved.
Concern about Netanyahu is also growing in the US Congress, where there is criticism of his lenient position towards Israeli settler groups in the West Bank. The extrajudicial detention of a US senator by such settlers has also caused anger.
Tension between the two countries has increased further as the United States considers selling F-35 fighter jets to Israel’s regional rival Turkey and has agreed a nuclear cooperation deal with Saudi Arabia.
A former Israeli ambassador and former consul general in New York, Alon Pinkas, told Al Jazeera that securing political advantage is the real purpose of Netanyahu’s visit to Washington. Netanyahu says he has gone to the United States to attend the funeral of a close friend, the recently deceased Republican senator Lindsey Graham.
Pinkas said: “It is thought that this visit has a specific agenda. The leaders will discuss Iran, the F-35 fighter jets and a possible nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia.”
Pinkas believes the visit has two aims. First, to persuade Israel’s allies and critics that Netanyahu’s relationship with Trump is as firm as before. Second, Netanyahu hopes Trump will call for him to be pardoned in the corruption case against him.
Another assessment cited in the report suggested Trump might say that Netanyahu led well during the war but that the time has now come for new leadership in Israel, and might then meet other Israeli politicians and back a new prime minister.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report