President Biden – Please save us from our leaders

The truth has come to light – Netanyahu is using all his might to torpedo any deal to release the hostages. This is now completely undeniable in the light of his decision to remain on the Philadelphi Corridor against the judgment of the security establishment.

The Philadelphi Corridor has become the new “rock of our existence,” primarily because it prevents a potential deal that Netanyahu fears will topple his government. “If they remove the IDF from Philadelphi, Netzarim or the perimeter, we will dismantle the government,” Minister Orit Strock stated on July 16, thereby setting the limits of Netanyahu’s freedom of action or, more accurately, Netanyahu’s lack of freedom of action. There is nothing he will not sacrifice in order to ensure his political survival.

Netanyahu has proven on countless occasions how he folds under pressure, especially when it emanates from within his messianic and extremist coalition. However, he does so also when the pressure is external, such as during the ‘Gallant Night’ last year which led not only to the cancelation of his dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, but also delayed his regime’s judicial overhaul.

The Israeli public continues to take to the streets despite being confronted by a police force that is frighteningly beginning to resemble a political militia – a police force reflecting the stance of Ben-Gvir, the criminal minister in its charge. The police prefer to arrest demonstrators in Herzliya or Hod Hasharon rather than rioters against the IDF in “Sde Teiman” or against the settlers who carry out pogroms in Jit and other communities in the West Bank.

But the most effective pressure can come from the White House in Washington. President Biden, who over the past year has proven time and time again how determined he is to defend the State of Israel from its enemies, is now the person who can defend Israel and its citizens from leaders who have lost their sense of morality and democratic direction.

Pressuring Netanyahu does not weaken Israel, but is the only way to help Israelis escape a futile war in which our soldiers are being killed on an almost daily basis, our international standing is being undermined and our hostages in Gaza and evacuees from the north and south remain abandoned. American leverage to help Israel reach a political solution in Gaza and a regional alliance against Iran is the only way for President Biden to realize his Zionist convictions, which he has declared several times in the past.

President Biden’s frustration with Netanyahu is palpable. His resounding “no” to a question about whether he believes Netanyahu is doing enough to reach a deal revealed his mindset. Now is the time to express that mindset not only in word but also in deed.

Most of the American Jewish community and the Democratic Party expect President Biden to exert stronger leverage over Netanyahu. This expectation increased after the news of the murder of six hostages including Hersh Goldberg-Polin whose parents Rachel and John have become well-known and respected figures in many American homes and whose speech at the Democratic Convention in Chicago touched hearts everywhere. This expectation should signal to Biden that his pressure on Netanyahu’s government will also inevitably help Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign.

Currently, Netanyahu continues to reinforce his destructive policy, even while faced with the potential assassination of further hostages which could happen again at any moment. As such, the most significant pro-Israel move the US administration can take is to strengthen the pressure on the Netanyahu government. Biden should continue to defend the State of Israel and to transfer troops, ships and submarines to the region, but at the same time, he can protect the citizens of Israel and the hostages from a government that is propelling us towards the abyss of another permanent occupation of the Gaza Strip.

This pressure could manifest itself in advancing broader American sanctions on individuals and organizations, tacit encouragement for the Europeans to intensify sanctions on right-wing Israeli elements – including government ministers – and possibly the speeding up of the issuance of an arrest warrant against Netanyahu by the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Alongside the absolute commitment to the security and protection of Israel, Biden’s pressure must also come in the form of freezing the export of certain types of offensive munitions and advancing a series of measures that, together with the Israeli demonstrators in the streets, will serve as a counterweight to Ben-Gvir, Smotrich and the other extremists in Netanyahu’s coalition.

I am an Israeli patriot, a Zionist through-and-through, someone who has defended his country on the battlefield and whose children have done so too and an Israeli who fervently desires his children to remain in the country and raise their families here. It is therefore not at all easy for me to come to the conclusion that only massive American pressure will be able to save us from Netanyahu’s failed leadership. His lust for power and his personal and messianic positions will lead us into an abyss from which we there will be no turning back. He must be stopped.

In the face of the reality we are now at and in the face of the 101 hostages whose return I am not willing to give up on, I am pleading with President Biden – Please Save Us!