Fraught U.S-Israel ties on display as Knesset reconvenes

After a month-long recess, Israeli lawmakers resume the debate over a controversial government plan to revamp the court, which has divided Israelis and alarmed Israel’s most important ally, the US.

Later Monday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will address the Knesset, highlighting tensions.

Israel’s leadership has characterized McCarthy’s visit as a sign of bipartisan U.S. support for Israel’s 75th anniversary. McCarthy is only the second House speaker to address the Knesset, after Newt Gingrich in 1998. Critics think the honor is a dig at Democratic President Joe Biden. Biden has publicly opposed the law revision and has not invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House after his electoral triumph late last year.

McCarthy’s statement highlights Netanyahu’s strained relationship with the Biden White House, partly due to Israel’s far-right government’s law overhaul and nationalistic bent.

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It also shows how Israel is becoming a contentious issue in U.S. politics. Netanyahu publicly supported Republicans over Democrats a decade ago. Young progressive Democrats are also increasingly critical of Israel.

McCarthy addresses the Knesset as Republicans and Democrats prepare for presidential nominations. Republicans want evangelical Christians to think they’re Israel’s best ally.

Netanyahu stopped judicial change plans before parliament’s break under pressure from big weekly protests, a labor strike, and military reservists’ threats to quit. Netanyahu “cannot continue down this road,” Biden said.

Since Netanyahu returned to office late last year after a brief opposition leadership stint, their relationship has soured. The Biden administration is concerned about Netanyahu’s ultranationalist government, which handles Palestinian and other sensitive matters.

Netanyahu, a lifelong conservative with American-accented English and close ties to the U.S., has never hidden his Republican leanings despite his emphasis on making Israel a bipartisan issue. He spoke before Congress against the Iran nuclear deal in 2015, which was considered as an attack on the Obama administration, which negotiated it. He supported President Donald Trump and Republican Mitt Romney. Most American Jews are Democrats, thus that Republican inclination has challenged relations.

Netanyahu “broke the bipartisanship” surrounding Israel, according to U.S.-Israel relations specialist Eytan Gilboa. He said Republicans and Netanyahu used McCarthy’s visit to humiliate Biden.

“It balances Biden,” he remarked. Netanyahu believes a McCarthy visit will pressure the White House to welcome him. Republicans are competing over Israel support.

The ailing leader’s legal strategy has driven Israel into one of its biggest domestic crises, tanked his Likud party in polls, and soiled his legacy. McCarthy told the conservative Israel Hayom daily on Sunday that if Biden doesn’t invite Netanyahu to the White House, he’ll invite him to Congress.

The month-long legislative vacation has allowed Israelis to assess the tensions caused by the legal proposal, which had been moving quickly in the previous session and reached a boiling point after Netanyahu fired his dissenting defense minister.

The plan is uncertain. Netanyahu said last month he was temporarily pausing the push to overhaul Israel’s judicial system to allow the coalition and opposition to negotiate. Netanyahu’s friends want him to go forward if the talks fail because they don’t seem to have yielded many agreements.

On Thursday, tens of thousands of pro-overhaul protesters gathered near parliament. For 17 weeks, including during the legislative recess, protests opposing the revamp have been intense.

Netanyahu was conciliatory at a Sunday Cabinet meeting.

“We are trying to resolve this debate through dialogue. “With goodwill on both sides, I believe we can reach agreements, and I support this,” he added.

Netanyahu is anticipated to focus on less controversial matters like adopting a budget in the coming weeks as parliament reconvenes.

He’ll also confront obstacles. He faces a July court deadline to pass a military draft law addressing ultra-Orthodox Israelis’ near-blanket exemptions. Ultra-Orthodox men can study religious books rather than serve in the military like secular Jews. This approach isolates the expanding population and discourages its absorption into the workforce, which experts say is important to protect Israel’s economy.

Netanyahu, on trial for corruption, and his allies argue the revision is needed to rein in an interventionist legal system that has stripped elected leaders of authority. They want the government to choose judges, undermine the Supreme Court, and diminish judicial monitoring of legislation.

Critics worry the revisions will undermine Israel’s fragile checks and balances and democracy.