Israel shows contempt for the US, its indispensable ally

It’s conventional wisdom that the US is Israel’s indispensable ally. But Israel treats the US like an indulgent parent that lets it do whatever it wants.

A case in point is Friday’s assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. But that was just the latest in a long list of actions Israel has taken that make clear the US does not control its behavior.

For example, Biden keeps giving Chamberlainian assurances of a cease-fire for our time, only for Netanyahu to torpedo it. And he often torpedoes it by bombing schools and hospitals or blocking humanitarian aid, as if to reinforce Biden’s fecklessness and humiliation on the world stage. This spectacle has marked Israel’s war in Gaza.

Hell, you’d be forgiven for thinking Israel keeps daring the US to finally grow a spine — or at least put its weapons where its mouth is.

Netanyahu’s calculated slaps to US diplomacy

First, Netanyahu blindsided Biden by taking out Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, of all places. Now, he’s blindsided Biden again by taking out Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon. In both cases, Netanyahu left the Biden administration scrambling, stammering to assure the world that it wasn’t involved, had no advance notice, and provided no support.

In this case, the US led the EU and nearly a dozen other countries in crafting terms for an immediate 21-day cease-fire to allow for negotiations between Israel and Hezbollah. Biden then assured the world that Israel had agreed to those terms, only for Netanyahu to make a fool of him — yet again — by ordering this assassination.

Biden should’ve publicly reprimanded Netanyahu for this brazen act of defiance. Instead, he praised the assassination of Nasrallah as “a measure of justice.” Moreover, he ordered the deployment of additional US forces to the region — offering Israel even more military cover for whatever mayhem Netanyahu decides to unleash next.

Is it any wonder Netanyahu is convinced that, even if he triggers a regional war, Biden will have his back?

Netanyahu: I need war for political survival

Netanyahu’s behavior isn’t just about punishing Hamas or Hezbollah. He’s trying to become a war hero because he thinks that would enable him to serve for life as prime minister, not life in prison as a crook. The man would sooner trigger World War III than end up behind bars.

Recall that Biden literally stood on Israeli soil and begged Netanyahu not to repeat the mistakes the US made in Afghanistan and Iraq. After all, US efforts to destroy al-Qaeda only spawned ISIS. Killing Osama bin Laden just created “hundreds of bin Ladens.”

Frankly, America’s heralded “war on terror” turned out to be a Sisyphean misadventure. It featured the US killing leaders in whack-a-mole fashion as new ones kept emerging like matryoshka dolls. Meanwhile, the Taliban are now making Afghanistan an even safer haven for terrorists than it was on 9/11.

Yet, like a moth to flame, Israel is on its own march of folly into Gaza and Lebanon, cocksure that this time will be different. Netanyahu feels emboldened. He has assured Israelis that killing Nasrallah “marks a historic turning point in the Middle East.”

But killing bin Laden was supposed to be that turning point. And he’d do well to consider: What price victory in Lebanon and Gaza?