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According to The New York Times, the only person interested in Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington is Benjamin Netanyahu. Not surprisingly, the Times is dead wrong.
While many Americans would be hard-pressed to name the prime minister of Great Britain or the president of France, a very large number can identify—despise or admire—Netanyahu. His arrival in the United States, even in the midst of political chaos, will certainly be noted and his messages widely received.
In an address to a joint session of Congress (his fourth, breaking Churchill’s record), Netanyahu will certainly recall the horrors of October 7, along with the hostages’ continuing nightmare. He will describe northern Israel as a war zone rendered uninhabitable by Hezbollah. Most fervidly, the prime minister will return to his favorite theme: Iran. The world’s leading enabler of terror, he’ll say, Iran bears direct responsibility for the devastation of the past ten months. The same threshold-capable Iran, he’ll proclaim, is today only a decision away from producing nuclear weapons.
The speech, delivered in the shadow of Biden’s first public appearance since exiting the presidential race, might not attract the attention it might otherwise have garnered. But far greater attention will be focused on his three high-profile meetings—each for a different reason.
Sitting before the cameras with Netanyahu, Biden will have the opportunity to prove that he is still competent enough to complete his term. He can rebuff those calling on him to resign and allow Kamala Harris to run as an incumbent.
Should he receive Netanyahu, as planned, at Mar-a-Lago, Trump can smooth over his differences with him and reinforce the Republicans’ claim to be the true pro-Israel party.
Netanyahu’s most impactful meeting, though, will be with Harris. It will showcase her as a statesperson capable of interacting with a formidable foreign leader. It will facilitate her necessary movement from the progressive left to the moderate center. Ironically, one of Netanyahu’s most outspoken critics in Washington stands to benefit substantially from his visit.
The New York Times was wrong and so, too, was the State Department’s Office of the Chief of Protocol, which apparently failed to give Netanyahu a respectable welcome. No matter. His time in Washington will be nevertheless noteworthy and perhaps even fateful.
Michael Oren, formerly Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Knesset member, and deputy minister for diplomacy in the Israeli prime minister’s office, is the author of the Substack publication Clarity. You can read his other essays for The Free Press here.
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