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Thomas L. Friedman

By Thomas L. Friedman

Opinion Columnist

If President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris needed any reminder that Benjamin Netanyahu is not their friend, not America’s friend and, most shamefully, not the friend of the Israeli hostages in Gaza, the murder by Hamas of six Israeli souls while Netanyahu dragged out negotiations should make that clear. Netanyahu has one interest: his own immediate political survival, even if it undermines Israel’s long-term survival.

Madam Vice President, have no doubt, this will lead him to do things in the next two months that could seriously harm your election chances and strengthen Donald Trump’s. Be afraid.

Meanwhile, Mr. President, please, please tell me that Netanyahu has not played you for a fool. You have had repeated conversations with him, each followed by your optimistic predictions about an imminent cease-fire in Gaza — and then he tells his followers something else.

Netanyahu is one reason that I coined this rule about Middle East reporting: In Washington, officials tell you the truth in private and lie in public. In the Middle East, officials lie to you in private and tell the truth in public. Never trust what they say to you in private — especially Netanyahu. Listen only to what they say in public to their own people in their own languages.

In his phone calls, Netanyahu has been whispering to America’s leaders in English that he is interested in a cease-fire and a hostage deal and is considering the necessary precursors for what I call the Biden Doctrine. But as soon as he hangs up, in Hebrew, he says things to his base that expressly contradict the Biden Doctrine, because it threatens the Bibi Doctrine.

So, what is the Biden Doctrine, and what is the Bibi Doctrine, and why do they matter?

The Biden administration has built an impressive set of regional alliances with partners stretching from Japan, South Korea and the Philippines in the Asia Pacific region to India and the Persian Gulf, up to NATO in Europe. They are security and economic coalitions, designed to counter Russia in Europe, contain China in the Pacific and isolate Iran in the Middle East.

Alas, though, a keystone for all these alliances — meant to connect Asia, the Middle East and Europe — was Biden’s proposed defense alliance with Saudi Arabia. The key to getting such a deal through Congress would be Saudi Arabia agreeing to normalize relations with Israel. And the key to getting the Saudis to do that would be Netanyahu agreeing to discuss — just discuss — the possibility of a two-state solution with the Palestinians one day.

Since the Gaza war started last October, the Biden team has been wisely trying to meld the Biden Doctrine with a Gaza cease-fire and hostage deal, by stressing the significant advantages for both Israel and America: It could lead........

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