Barack Obama rejected Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempt to settle scores with Iran when he was in the White House. The Israeli prime minister, on this occasion, used the same arguments that ultimately found the final, useful support in Donald Trump. “I think my prediction turned out to be correct,” the former president confided to the New Yorker, speaking of the scenarios that see the US mired in an unpopular conflict that fuels the Democrats’ growing unease towards Israel.
It is possible that Netanyahu has now “got what he wanted. Whether this is what is best for the Israeli people is a point I have doubts about. Whether it’s good for the United States is another point I have doubts about. I believe there is ample documentation of my differences with Netanyahu”, underlined Obama, an authoritative voice of the Democrats who is increasingly inclined to spend time with the younger generations, as a guardian in uncertain and controversial times.
Doubts about Israel’s strategies have taken root on the American liberal front to the point of touching the taboo of the nuclear weapons in its possession. Socialist senator Bernie Sanders has firmly established himself among the main critics, starting with the events in Gaza. He supported the need to condition American aid, called for an end to military support and accused Netanyahu of pursuing “ethnic cleansing”, positioning himself as a defender of Palestinian rights and at the same time as a catalyst for dem malaise.
To the point that now a group of deputies have urged the Trump administration to publicly recognize Israel’s undeclared nuclear weapons program, in a move that is a turning point compared to decades of US policy, confirming what, among intelligence insiders, has been a sort of open secret since the late 1960s.
In a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and obtained by The Washington Post, more than 20 lawmakers led by Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro argued that Washington’s silence on Israel’s nuclear program is “now indefensible” in the context of a bitter war on Iran. “The risks of miscalculations, escalation and the use of nuclear weapons are not merely theoretical.”
Congress, the deputies remarked, “has the constitutional responsibility to be fully informed on the nuclear balance in the Middle East, on the risk of escalation by any actor involved, as well as on the planning and emergency measures prepared by the administration to deal with complex scenarios”, in line with fears shared by representatives of the Trump administration.
The letter is the latest wake-up call for Democrats to turn their backs on Israel, fueled by frustration over indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon, as well as intense lobbying in Washington in support of the war in Iran.