The Opinions - Netanyahu Is Trying to Save Himself. Will He Sink Harris?

Episode Date: September 5, 2024

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s drive to stay in power is harming Israel’s global reputation and complicating the U.S. presidential election for Democrats, the Opinion columnist Thomas L. Friedman argues. In this audio essay, Friedman offers a new name for the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and explains why Netanyahu might be rooting for Donald Trump this November.Thoughts? Questions? Email us at [e-mail]. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This is The Opinions, a show that brings you a mix of voices from New York Times opinion. You've heard the news. Here's what to make of it. My name is Thomas Friedman, and I'm the Foreign Affairs columnist for the New York Times. I want to talk about how Bibi Netanyahu is trying to save himself, elect Donald Trump, and defeat Kamala Harris. And he's doing all of this even at the cost of Israel's long-term survival. He's willing to make things worse in Gaza and derail any ceasefire and hostage deal, even get Trump reelected in order to align and realize his own personal goals. Netanyahu has really had three goals for as long as I've covered him.

What is the same power and get elected, which has usually involved staying very close to the right in Israel, which leads to a second goal, which is to make sure that Palestinians never have a unified, moderate leadership that could actually be a partner for a two-state solution, and that has always entailed keeping Hamas viable in Gaza and putting down the Palestinian authority in the West Bank. And thirdly, is a domestic priority of his,

which has been to defeat the left in Israel, the elites in Israel, and basically strip them of their power to set cultural and political agendas in Israel. People have asked me, what's the name of this war? You never Middle East War had a name. And my suggestion is that we should call this war the war of the worst.

Because I've never seen a Middle East war where the worst people on all sides were driving it. And that's why it is so vicious and in a sense purposeless. That is without any political horizon. The worst of the worst in Israel, which is the Jewish supremacist

far right in Netanyahu's cabinet, are driving him in the war from their side. The worst of the worst among Palestinians, the Hamas military leadership, are driving events from the Palestinians. side. So I've never seen a war where the worst of the worst in the whole region are driving it. And that's why it is so vicious and ugly and without political hope. Netanyahu and I do not exchange Hanukkah cards. So I can't tell you I know what's

exactly in his head. But I will tell you that he has an approach to politics, which is not unlike Donald Trump, which is to divide, to divide, to divide. And so he just wants to win by 50.001. and divide the Israeli public, divide Jews from Arabs, Jews from Jews left and right. And that's his whole approach. All he's done is made the situation worse, made it more insoluble by allowing settlements beyond the settlement blocks, you know, meant to preserve a territory for a Palestinian state, deep into the heart of now the West Bank is where he's allowed settlements to be built. And so you just want to say to him, where does this go?

How does this work? How does this end with a Jewish Democratic state? What in the world are you doing? So in 2019, Netanyahu was indicted on breach of trust and the bribery and corruption charges. And Israel as a record, it put a prime minister in jail and it put a president in jail. And so the court system there is so very viable. And Netanyahu could go to jail if indicted. Therefore, he needed to have the prime ministership in order to be able to trade something.

And as a result, when he won very narrowly his 2022 election, he needed in order to gain power to reach out to people who had never held that kind of power before. Now he is beholden to them, and they're the ones giving him driving direction. And they're saying, if you don't turn right here, and then turn right again, and then turn right again, we're going to bring you down, Bebe. and when we do, you will be left to the tender mercies of the Israeli judicial system. Bibi understands right now that he kind of has Vice President Harris over a barrel. If he escalates the war, then American Arabs and Muslims in Michigan may actually vote for Trump

because of their opposition to what Biden did in resupplying Israel for this war effort. Conversely, Netanyan knows if Harris says nothing and Netanyahu escalates the war, She'll look wishy-washy. She won't satisfy either Arab Americans or Jewish Americans. And so he actually can dial up and down this war in ways that could really make it difficult for the Democratic candidates. Trump, in general, and the Republican Party in particular, are innately pro-Israel and don't care about settlements for the most part. So if they're elected, I think B.B. Fields still have a free pass in many ways, at least for a while, on the Middle East. And that's why he, I think, he hasn't told me this, I'm just guessing, but is for Trump in this election.

I have covered the story for four decades. And I can usually tell you with some degree of confidence, you know, if this happens and that happens, I think this will happen. I have no idea what's going to happen next. I know what I think needs to happen next, a ceasefire and a return of Israeli hostages in return for exchange with Israel over Palestinian prisoners. that's what needs to happen next, but what will happen next? Man, I have no idea. I think the most important thing people in the U.S. need to understand is that this Israeli government is not our friend. It's doing things that are not in our interest, let alone, I believe, in Israel's interest.

And friends don't let friends drive drunk. And it may not be our friend, but we need to be its friend. And that means speaking out loudly and clearly in support of a ceasefire now and a hostage deal. I know there are a lot of protesters are out carrying signs or chanting from the river to the sea and claiming it's somehow a peace chant. I have for them some free advice. How about two states for two people? It goes really well with drums.

Two states for two people. Two states for two people. That would actually be making a contribution. But right now, the far right in Israel and the far left in America, both seem to share the same goals, which is one side or the other controls. from the river to the sea. Now, there are a lot of people who will say to me, O'Friedman, your idea of a two-state solution,

that is so delusional. That's so naive. To which I say a couple things. One is, oh, my God, you mean it's hard? Oh, thank you for telling me. I thought it was a slam dunk. Well, let me tell you this. Without a two-state solution,

we're going to have a no-states-for-two-people solution. We're going to just have a forever war. If you like this show, follow it on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts. This show is produced by Derek Arthur, Sophia Alvarez Boyd, Bishaka, Fiby Lett, Christina Samuoski, and Jillian Weinberger. It's edited by Kari Pitkin, Alison Bruzek, and Annie Rose Strasser. Engineering, mixing, and original music by Isaac Jones, Sonia Herrero, Pat McCusker, Carol Saburo, and Afim Shapiro. Additional music by Amin Sahota. The fact check team is Kate Sinclair, Mary Marge Locker, and Michelle Harris.

Audience Strategy by Shannon Busta, Christina Samuelski, and Adrian Rivera. The executive producer of Times Opinion Audio is Annie Rose Dresser.