Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Two were martyred in an initial toll of the Israeli drone strike that targeted the al-Asira neighborhood in the city of Baalbek, eastern Lebanon
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: An Israeli drone strike targeted the al-Asira neighborhood east of Baalbek, eastern Lebanon
Sheikh Naim Qassem to the pager attack survivors: You are the greatest resistance. Know that 'Israel' will fall because it embodies aggression, crime, and occupation; victory is truly yours
Sheikh Qassem to the pager attack survivors: The value of what you are doing despite your wounds is immense, and here you are, treading the path of the Master of Nation's Martyrs and the leaders
Sheikh Qassem to the pager attack survivors: You are moving forward with insight deeper than sight itself. The enemy sought to eliminate your role in the battle, yet you remain steadfast and continue the fight
Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem to the pager attack survivors one year later: You are healing from your wounds and rising above them. You have successfully passed the test
Palestinian media: Reports of stabbing operation in occupied al-Quds.
Israeli media: Sirens blare in Arava in South, near Ramon Airport.
Egyptian PM Mostafa Madbouli: Egypt is targeted in plans to redraw regional map
AEOI Chief Mohammad Eslami: Our presence in IAEA General Council and fact-checking helped in preventing unilateral rhetoric that aims to portray Iran as an unregulated country

Israeli Schism -- The contagion spreads to US

  • Alastair Crooke Alastair Crooke
  • Source: Al Mayadeen English
  • 13 May 2023 15:00
  • 5 Shares
5 Min Read

Biden won’t invite Netanyahu to the White House, but now McCarthy has invited Bibi to Washington, poking Biden and the Democrats hard in the eye. Yet again, Biden and the Dems are being bypassed on foreign policy not by China, this time, but worse...

  • x
  • This has ‘dark overtones’ for Biden: It reeks of Netanyahu’s earlier (1998) so-called ‘replacement theory’.
    This has ‘dark overtones’ for Biden: It reeks of Netanyahu’s earlier (1998) so-called ‘replacement theory’: Disengage from the Democrats, align with the right wing of the Republican Party, dispense with bipartisanship, and deliberately turn "Israel" into a US partisan wedge issue. 

Is Netanyahu sincere in seeking a White House visit to try to project a calmer, ‘business as usual tint’ to Israeli public affairs? Is he hoping to shift international focus away from the unending protest ‘optic’, back to Iran?

But does Netanyahu really think he can ‘charm back’ Biden? That seems a forlorn hope. The Administration backs the protests -- and succours his coalition enemies.

The protest movement in "Israel" (and some in Washington) may believe (and hope) it has already won the battle to scupper judicial reform. There is ‘suspension of legislation’, but as one Israeli cynic puts it, this ‘pause’ may turn out to be all smoke and mirrors.

Most of the constitutional amendments already have been drafted - and await a second and third Knesset vote. This means they can be enacted by a simple majority within hours of a decision, once the Knesset reconvenes next week or by the July recess at the latest.  

Talks at the Israeli President’s Residence continue, but with the ‘sides’ so divided -- even on what it is that "Israel" ‘is’; what it is that constitutes the notion of ‘Jewishness’, or its vision for the future -- that ‘compromise’ would seem to portend an outcome little more than ephemeral, at best.

Yet, Netanyahu ‘getting the focus back to Iran’ will not endear the PM to the White House. General Mark Milley has said that the US remains committed that Iran “will not have fielded nuclear weapons”.

What does ‘fielded’ mean? Well, it means that the US tacitly accepts that Iran sits at ‘threshold’ status; and that it shows no sign of crossing the weapons-status ‘line’. This US shift (and shift, it is) if anything, further complicates Netanyahu’s relations with Biden.

For, even if the White House positively hates the prospect, they can nonetheless see how China’s mediation (and guarantee) for the Iran-Saudi Accord has re-set the regional geo-strategic ‘geography’. Iran is no longer ‘pariah’: It is normalised. Iran and Saudi both have exchanged security assurances with each other, under Chinese oversight, with the sequellae to this accord ‘going virtual’ across the region and beyond.

Related News

Washington based think tanks advocate war on Lebanon

US losing India to China-Russia bloc, as SCO summit rang alarm bells

So in effect, Netanyahu has no Iran policy, or at least none remotely acceptable to the White House. His constant refrain of Iran ‘warnings’ have become more an irritant, than any compelling reason for an invite to the White House. 

In any event, Netanyahu’s earlier virulent campaign against the Obama-Biden JCPOA has not been forgotten. It has left a legacy of rancorous memories amongst Democrats.

And Netanyahu has dug the ‘hole he is in’ even deeper: He entertained House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, on the latter’s recent visit to "Israel".  

McCarthy was only the second Speaker to address the Knesset. Afterwards, McCarthy said, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu isn’t invited to Washington [by Biden], “I’ll invite the prime minister to come ‘meet with the House’. An invitation now has been extended to Netanyahu to come to the US Congress.  

Gasoline poured onto fire!  Biden hasn’t, and won’t, speak to McCarthy. He is ‘toxic’ to Team Biden because of his hard-line stance on lifting the US debt ceiling.  

Biden won’t invite Netanyahu to the White House, but now McCarthy has invited Bibi to Washington, poking Biden and the Democrats hard in the eye. Yet again, Biden and the Dems are being bypassed on foreign policy not by China, this time, but worse: by a man seen to be sympathetic to Trump and the MAGA constituencyو and thus the embodiment of the US political enemy ‘Other’ in the eyes of the Biden White House.

This has ‘dark overtones’ for Biden: It reeks of Netanyahu’s earlier (1998) so-called ‘replacement theory’: Disengage from the Democrats, align with the right wing of the Republican Party, dispense with bipartisanship, and deliberately turn "Israel" into a US partisan wedge issue. 

After McCarthy being treated to Biden’s contemptuous silence since his election as Speaker, the Republicans might just be ‘up’ for a more confrontational approach on "Israel".  The US’ (once monolithic) public stance on "Israel" is fracturing and becoming more factious on the Israeli issue, giving scope for the GOP to make political capital.

Again, the point here is that the fractures apparent within many ًWestern societies seem to be spiralling into a vicious circle of divisions across other distinct dimensions: One may think ‘G20’ in this context.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Al Mayadeen’s editorial stance.
  • Israel
  • Kevin McCarthy
  • Joe Biden
  • United States
  • Palestine
  • Israeli occupation
  • Benjamin Netanyahu
Alastair Crooke

Alastair Crooke

Director of Conflicts Forum; Former Senior British Diplomat; Author.

Most Read

All
UKLFI’s latest faux pas, like "Israel’s" recent failed attempt at regime change in Iran, is unambiguously indicative of a flailing entity on the verge of extinction. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

Zionist lawfare operation facing collapse?

  • Opinion
  • 13 Sep 2025
Why is Choose Love using a firm with British and US intelligence connections to run a pro-Palestine musical event? (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Together for Palestine: Troubling questions about the organisers of this huge event

  • Opinion
  • 17 Sep 2025
In the immediate aftermath of Parubiy’s slaying, claims emerged he had months earlier requested formal protection from the SBU, only to be rebuffed. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

The Ukrainian neo-Nazi who knew too much?

  • Opinion
  • 5 Sep 2025
The West Bank is on the verge of catastrophe

The West Bank is on the verge of catastrophe

  • Opinion
  • 9 Sep 2025

Coverage

All
War on Iran

More from this writer

All
The Nakedness of EU ‘Geo-political’ Ambitions Will Be Revealed - As the Ukraine War Melts Away

The Nakedness of EU ‘Geo-political’ Ambitions Will Be Revealed - As the Ukraine War Melts Away

The Slow-Motion Advance to the Edge of the Abyss

The Slow-Motion Advance to the Edge of the Abyss

Already, "Israel" has the White House committed to support an Israeli military operation against Hezbollah. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab El-Hajj)

Does 'Israel' want war?

The European Mutiny: The Consequences are Just Beginning

The European Mutiny: The Consequences are Just Beginning

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS