Caroline Conejero
New York
Monday, October 7, 2024, 8:17 p.m.
Five weeks before the US election, Democrats increasingly suspect that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to influence the presidential election to tip the balance in favor of Donald Trump, the candidate he believes will be more favorable to him. .
His actions to repeatedly undermine Joe Biden’s attempts to negotiate a peace deal in Gaza and the escalation against Hezbollah and Iran in recent weeks, with the consequent danger of a broader conflict in the region, have not been welcomed by the Democratic administration.
“I am certainly concerned that Prime Minister Netanyahu is watching the US elections while making decisions about his military campaigns in the north and in Gaza,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. , in a recent interview with CNN.
The war in Gaza, and now in Lebanon, has become the Biden Government’s foreign policy priority, and has highlighted Washington’s inability to influence a war that would not be possible without its weapons support. The US supplies 68% of Israel’s war weapons.
The nearly year-long conflict, “more than any other crisis, has exposed the limits of US power,” said Comfort Ero, president and CEO of the International Crisis Group think tank.
public humiliation
Aware of the international and domestic impact on the Biden Administration, the Israeli prime minister has increased pressure on the Democrat in a delicate election year, sometimes crossing the line into public humiliation, making him see him as inefficient and without influence in the Middle East. The effect on public perception has exacerbated divisions over the conflict within the Democratic Party, while alienating important sectors of the electorate, such as progressives, young people and Arab-Muslims.
Netanyahu, who has not returned the favor of his unconditional support for Biden, has maintained an open relationship with the opposition, which invited him to give a speech in Congress in July, followed by a meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
As a consequence, Netanyahu’s relationship with Democrats has deteriorated, even with the most pro-Israel ones, who have become increasingly conflictive. While Democrats are forced not to be able to talk about the conflict or Netanyahu, their tension has provided a window of electoral opportunity for Republicans.
Free to exploit the situation to its advantage, the opposition has accused the Democratic administration of ‘obstructing’ support for Israel, and even of “weakness with Iran” that has left Netanyahu with no choice but to attack the country.
Trump constantly blames Biden for “under his watch” the world is “spinning out of control.”
Trump and Harris, tied
Muslim Americans’ opinion poll ratings toward the Biden-Harris administration have eroded considerably since 2020, when Biden had the support of 59% of the Arab-Muslim electorate.
A survey conducted among 500 voters in this electoral group from September 9 to 20 shows Trump and Harris almost tied, with a slight advantage for the Republican, 42%-41% respectively.
In Michigan, a state Democrats need to win, Harris faces enormous political risk if she does not appease this electorate and the ‘uncommitted’ movement before the election.
Netanyahu has a history of meddling in U.S. elections dating back to the 1990s, typically betting against Democrats in favor of Republicans, as he did with President Clinton, and in favor of Trump in 2020.
David Rothkopf, a former Clinton administration official and former CEO and editor of Foreign Policy magazine, said Democrats have good reason to think that the latest military actions, or the fact that Netanyahu has thwarted the Democratic administration’s efforts to negotiate a peace agreement despite months of concerted effort, have become a sore point that has an effect on the 2024 elections.
«I think it is a reasonable concern based on the conversations I have had with the Israelis. They understand that [Netanyahu] “He is a Trump supporter and they feel it would be more beneficial for him in the long run to have Trump as president,” Rothkopf told ‘The Hill.’ The decisions he makes over the course of the next five weeks “will have an effect on the election,” he said.
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