President Joe Biden is trying to pick a successor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a new report citing White House sources — and he is doing so despite the fact that Israel is at war against the Hamas terrorist organization.
As Breitbart News reported earlier this year, Biden tried to isolate Netanyahu, refusing to meet with him until September, when the White House, seeking a foreign policy win, tried to help Israel and Saudi Arabia negotiate toward peace between the two.
Biden has expressed solidarity with Israel in its fight against Hamas, which murdered an estimated 1,200 people in an attack October 7 and wounded more than 5,400 more, taking 240 hostages — including Americans — to Gaza. Biden also appeared alongside Netanyahu when he traveled to Israel last month on a solidarity visit.
But a Politico report — based on leaks, perhaps, by sources who want to damage Netanyahu — suggests that the White House is trying to swap Israeli leaders in the middle of the war:
Joe Biden and top aides have discussed the likelihood that Benjamin Netanyahu’s political days are numbered — and the president has conveyed that sentiment to the Israeli prime minister in a recent conversation.
The topic of Netanyahu’s short political shelf life has come up in recent White House meetings involving Biden, according to two senior administration officials. That has included discussions that have taken place since Biden’s trip to Israel, where he met with Netanyahu.
…
With an eye toward the future, U.S. officials are talking to Benny Gantz, a member of the current unity government; Naftali Bennett, a former prime minister; and Yair Lapid, an opposition leader and former prime minister, among other Israeli figures, the former official said.
Netanyahu is currently at a low point in Israeli opinion polls, but that could change as the war progresses. Israeli leaders have pledged to put politics behind them while the war is going on, and opposition leader Benny Gantz joined a unity government.
The Netanyahu government has resisted growing American pressure to seek a ceasefire, even as it makes advances against Hamas in Gaza.
Historically, Democratic administrations — including those of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama — have tried to get rid of the conservative Netanyahu, interfering all but openly in Israeli elections. Netanyahu has used such efforts to bolster his position, telling Israeli voters that he is the only leader who can stand up to the American left and its pressure for Israeli concessions to the Palestinians.
It may be that Israeli voters oust Netanyahu, but the next election is not scheduled for another three years.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated to reflect a revised number on the death toll from the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel. The Israeli government estimate of 1,400 was revised to around 1,200, according to Reuters.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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