It is ironic that the unity government agreement between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Gen. Benny Gantz was announced within days of former Vice President Joe Biden’s effusive welcoming of J Street’s endorsement of his candidacy for president. The endorsement was J Street’s first ever presidential endorsement and it cited Biden’s opposition to Israeli settlements and his role in negotiating the Iran nuclear deal.
Significant in this context is the ongoing dispute between Netanyahu and Gantz over that part of Trump’s so-called Deal of the Century, which envisages the possible Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank with large Jewish populations. Netanyahu has said that he generally favors prompt unilateral annexation within designated maps drawn with a view to protecting Israeli interests. Gantz has said that he would support annexation only with international consensus. The recent inconclusive Israeli electoral contests have left the issue somewhat in limbo. But all that seemed to change in Netanyahu’s favor in light of the unity agreement.
Netanyahu will serve as prime minister with Gantz as deputy prime minister until October 2021, at which point they will exchange roles. But significantly, as the New York Times reports, while the agreement delays consideration of the annexation question until at least July 1 of this year and requires that any annexation plan “must preserve regional stability, protect existing peace agreements and aspire for future ones,” those determinations are up to the government and Gantz is only entitled to “consultation“ with Netanyahu. He does not have a veto.
So given the almost certainty that Biden will be the Democratic standard bearer in November, the looming clash between the Democrats and Israel threatens to be tectonic, perhaps rivaling that of the Obama years, even if the Iran question stays in the background. All the more reason for our community to be very wary of the Biden candidacy and to seriously flush out his views on what is important to us.
