Biden should criticize Israel privately and show solidarity publicly

Even as Israel’s right-wing government attempts to undermine the country’s independent judiciary — which has sparked an outcry among Israelis and international allies alike — it is imperative that the U.S.-Israel special relationship remains above the fray. 

Israel is not only one of America’s closest allies — with deep cultural, social and religious ties to the U.S. — but also one of our most important national security partners, as the only true democracy in the Middle East.  

For months, Israelis have taken to the streets every weekend to protest against the reforms, which opponents say will put the Jewish state on the fast track to a religious dictatorship and supporters say will rein in the country’s incredibly powerful judiciary.  

Rather than taking sides, the Biden administration should be recognizing that this is democracy at work, as hundreds of thousands of Israelis — out of a population of fewer than 10 million — are rising up to peacefully protest their government over domestic policy. 

There isn’t a time in modern American history when our two parties were so peacefully engaged. Alan Dershowitz and Andrew Stein got it right when they noted recently that “the democratic world should learn from Israel that protests can be an important aspect of democratic governance.” 

It is thus unfortunate to see the White House repeatedly inserting itself into Israel’s internal conflicts and taking veiled shots at the current government as White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre did last month, and as President Biden himself did by inviting Israel’s titular president, Isaac Herzog, to the White House before inviting the country’s current — and longest serving — prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.  

In that same vein, Biden’s comments to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman — where he warned Netanyahu not to advance any reforms without broad consensus, or risk permanently breaking the bond between the two nations — are simply a gift to Israel’s and America’s shared adversaries.  

This is also true of the shortsighted calls to end U.S. military aid for Israel made by left-wing members of Congress, who fail to recognize that the dollars provided by the U.S. every year allow Israel to act in both countries’ interests by targeting terrorist groups when domestic political constraints and geopolitical concerns preclude America from doing so.

Further, as Richard Goldberg recently noted, “just 0.2% of America’s discretionary budget” goes toward the U.S. investing in “the special forces of global democracy.” 

Neither the erosion of support for Israel within the Democratic Party nor Biden’s increasing hostility toward Israel’s current government is going unnoticed by terrorists and their state sponsors like Hezbollah and Iran, which would happily take advantage of the growing distance between the U.S. and Israel. 

There is a long history of Israel using American military aid to further our shared geopolitical interests and protect both nations’ national security — by taking actions that the U.S. could not without igniting a large-scale international conflict.  

Israeli strikes prevented both Saddam Hussein (1981) and Bashar al-Assad (2007) from developing nuclear weapons, and Israel continues to be at the vanguard of preventing nuclear weapons from falling into the hands of Islamic terrorists. Recently, Israel has carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities as well as factories making weapons for Russia’s use in Ukraine.

By creating friction between the U.S. and Israel, the Biden administration is also sabotaging its own efforts to bring about what would be its crowning foreign policy achievement: securing a Saudi-Israeli normalization deal.  

Any hostility in the U.S.-Israeli relationship will only dissuade Saudi Arabia, the most powerful Arab country, from making peace with this Israeli government. America’s position in brokering the deal would be much stronger if Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman believed that the road to Washington ran through Jerusalem. 

This is not to suggest that allies cannot have disagreements, nor is it to say that Biden, who has consistently been a pro-Israel Democrat, should avoid privately expressing his concerns about Israel’s future to Netanyahu, with whom he has maintained a close personal relationship for nearly 40 years.  

In no way am I advocating for these reforms — there are a number of egregious components of the judicial overhaul that warrant Biden voicing his skepticism. But given the geopolitical implications, any such discussion should have always remained private. Put another way, the American president must be cognizant of realpolitik over political differences with our closest, most strategic ally in the Middle East. 

Regrettably, since the conception of Netanyahu’s new government — which is one of the most, if not the most, right-wing in Israeli history — Biden has been public in his criticisms, which have included condemning individual ministers in the Israeli government. 

Even at this time of reckoning within Israel, America must not lose sight of the big picture: Israel remains one of the world’s most vibrant democracies, especially in a region dominated by failed states and autocracies that suppress the rights of women and LGTBQ individuals.  

It also goes without saying that Israel is not the only country that has experienced a surge in right-wing populism in recent years, which has swept across the Western world, and even the United States. 

Israel has stood by the United States as our democracy has been tested time and time again, never losing sight of our shared goals and values, and it is incumbent on President Biden to pay the Jewish State the same respect. 

Douglas E. Schoen is a political consultant who served as an adviser to President Clinton and to the 2020 presidential campaign of Michael Bloomberg. His new book is “The End of Democracy? Russia and China on the Rise and America in Retreat.” Saul Mangel is a senior strategist at Schoen Cooperman Research.