His welcome on Capitol Hill last week was nowhere near as enthusiastic as his three previous addresses to Congress, with thousands on the streets in support of the Palestinians, and half of congressional Democrats boycotting his speech. Israel’s prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, however, was unrepentant about Israel’s campaign, pledging again to fight on until “total victory” against Hamas. He was also backed by Republican candidate Donald Trump, at a meeting on Friday, though clearly had a more difficult exchange with presumptive Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.
The centrality of the US position was underlined by the weekend events which then forced Netanyahu to return ahead of schedule to Israel. More Israeli attacks on Gaza were followed by an attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan area, killing 12 young people. Hizbullah denied involvement, but Israel holds them responsible and attacked Hizbullah targets in Lebanon. Fears of this spreading into a wider regional conflict are growing.
The US role as tensions grow will be central, as Israel’s key supporter. To date, however, Netanyahu has ignored all calls for restraint and the attack in Golan shows Israel’s enemies also ruthlessly targeting civilians. Diplomatic contacts are to continue, but will surely now be set back.
In the US, the irredentist Netanyahu gave no hint of willingness to agree the ceasefire and hostage release deal whose shape has been crafted by the US. In his address to Congress there was no talk of any return to Palestinian governance, nor of two-state solutions. And as he returned to Israel, further action against Hizbullah is promised.
Dangerous days now lie ahead as speculation grows of wider Israeli action in Lebanon and the risks of a spreading of the conflict, possibly even drawing in Iran. In trying to avoid this terrible scenario the influence of the US will be vital and it will try to persuade Israel to limit its response. Since the October 7th attacks, this has been one of Washington’s key goals. However, this task now looks a good deal more difficult.