Benjamin Netanyahu threatens ‘dramatic confrontation’ with Joe Biden

The Israeli PM reacted furiously to a US intelligence assessment that warns his hold on office may be at risk, suggesting the Biden administration is working to overthrow his government.

US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are engaged in a war of words. Picture: AFP

Benjamin Netanyahu has reacted furiously to a US intelligence assessment that warns the Israeli Prime Minister’s hold on office “may be in jeopardy,” suggesting the Biden administration is working to overthrow his government.

The report, which also warned Israel would fail to eliminate Hamas, has left Mr Netanyahu “fuming,” according to Israel’s Channel 12. The broadcaster reported that the Prime Minister had “decided to embark upon on strong, public and dramatic confrontation with the president of the United States.”

A senior official – described by Channel 12 as “the most senior Israeli political source you can imagine” - said in a statement: “Those who elect the prime minister of Israel are the citizens of Israel and no one else.

“Israel is not a protectorate of the US but rather an independent and democratic country whose citizens are the ones who elect the government. We expect our friends to work to bring down the terror regime of Hamas and not the elected government in Israel.”

The intelligence assessment, part of a 40-page report on global threats from Gaza and Ukraine to terrorism and cyberspace that was released on Monday (Tuesday AEDT), warned: “Netanyahu’s viability as leader as well as his governing coalition of far-right and ultraorthodox parties that pursued hard-line policies on Palestinian and security issues may be in jeopardy”

“Distrust of Netanyahu’s ability to rule has deepened and broadened across the public from its already high levels before the war, and we expect large protests demanding his resignation and new elections,” it continued. “A different, more moderate government is a possibility.”

Mr Biden and Mr Netanyahu have been increasingly locked in a war of words over Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, with the US president warning an Israeli attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah would cross a “red line”. Mr Netanyahu appeared to dismiss those concerns in an interview with Politico on Sunday.

He is also under pressure from within Israel’s three-member war cabinet, which includes his two major rivals, Benny Gantz, leader of the National Unity Party, and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

The latest poll released on Wednesday (AEDT) shows a potential coalition led by Mr Gantz would secure 69 seats of the Knesset’s 129 seats if elections were held today, compared to a bloc led by Mr Netanyahu’s Likud party which would get 46 seats.

The Channel 12 poll also shows that 41 per cent of people would vote for Mr Gantz as PM over 21 per cent for Mr Netanyahu.

Mr Gantz directly defied Mr Netanyahu in recent weeks, travelling to the US and UK to meet Mr Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak without authorisation from Mr Netanyahu who responded furiously, telling Mr Gantz: “There is only one Prime Minister.”

Israeli media also reported that when the British Foreign Office contacted the Israeli Foreign Ministry seeking help with making Mr Gantz’s trip an official visit, the Israeli ministry cut all contact with the FO.

Meanwhile US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has hosed down reports the White House is considering withholding aid to Israel if it moves forward with a ground assault on Rafah.

“We’re not going to engage in hypotheticals about what comes down the line and the reports that purport to describe the president’s thinking are uninformed speculation,” Mr Sullivan told reporters.

He reiterated, however, that the US would not support a ground incursion on Rafah without

a plan to evacuate the over one million Palestinians currently sheltering in the city.

Last month, Mr Biden described the war with Hamas as “over the top,” one of his sharpest rebukes since the conflict began, and in his State of the Union speech announced the building of a port in Gaza in order for aid to reach the enclave. Last week, an aid ship left Virginia in a further message to Israel that the US is willing to bypass Jerusalem’s controls over how aid reaches Gaza.

But Dave Harden, a former mission director at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in the West Bank and Gaza, told the BBC that Mr Netanyahu didn’t appear to be listening to Mr Biden’s warnings.

“He almost treats Biden as some kind of inconsequential second secretary of a low-ranked European power … the gap between Israel and the US just deepens,” said Mr Harden.