The United States has at last let a United Nations Security resolution pass, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza until the end of Ramadan – less than two weeks – and the release of all hostages. In response, an infuriated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called off an Israeli delegation’s visit to Washington, where the two nations were planning to discuss Israel’s security needs and the Gaza war.

This marks an unprecedented rift in US-Israeli relations and comes amid Washington’s growing frustration with Netanyahu’s conduct of the Gaza war.

The US let a United Nations Security resolution pass, marking an unprecedented rift in the US-Israel relationship. Credit: AP

Israel’s operations in Gaza have steadily flown in the face of the Biden administration’s emphasis on the need to stay on course with international law. The final straw has been Netanyahu’s determination to attack Rafah, which Washington has said would be a “huge mistake”, given the toll an attack would inflict on the 1.4 million Gazans located there.

No Israeli leader has leveraged American support more than Netanyahu to pursue a self-centred anti-Palestinian policy. Yet, he has managed to bypass any American presidents who have previously raised objections by relying on hedge politics and bipartisan support in the US Congress.

Since October 7, he has had the backing of a majority of Israelis and much of the political Right in the US, especially the Republican Party, in his pursuit of uprooting Hamas. However, many among Biden’s Democratic Party and the US’s allies have increasingly found it morally, politically and humanly repugnant to be associated with Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Traditionally a staunch supporter of Israel, Biden has finally found it expedient to maximise pressure on Netanyahu and his extremist national security and finance ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich - who deny the existence of the Palestinians - to fall in line with the US and allied interests. Hence America’s abstention vote and passage of the UNSC’s ceasefire resolution.

The ball is now in Netanyahu’s court, and he faces two options: to comply with the resolution or to refuse to implement it.

If he complies, it would be a huge loss of face and would almost certainly result in a revolt from within his government and see Israel’s longest-serving prime minister ousted from office. Even if he called a general election to soften the blow, Israeli polling shows he is destined to lose, with the National Unity Party well positioned to win under Benny Gantz. Unlike Netanyahu, Gantz is open to dialogue with the Palestinians and amenable to Washington’s demands, though still totally opposed to Hamas.