Should Biden demand the resignation of Netanyahu?

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

Why wouldn't it be a clear winner for Biden to declare that he will condition any future aid to Israel on Netanyahu resigning as Prime Minister?

- Biden clearly doesn't like Netanyahu personally
- The left and the Arab community would certainly want to Biden to move against Netanyahu
- Most American Jews support Israel but don't like Netanyahu
- Netanyahu is already very unpopular in his own country and it would only take a few members to his coalition support a no-confidence to force his resignation
- Replacing him would likely substantively help negotiations between Israel and Palestine
- Replacing him would probably do more toward a long term solution in Israel than just a cease fire that restores the situation to pre-Oct 7

This strikes me as a win-win for Biden both on political and policy grounds.  What's stopping this?

[7,052,770]

I definitely support Netanyahu being out of power, but if thats who the Israeli people really want as their leader, it is appropriate for Biden to tell them otherwise?

[falling apart like the ashes of American flags]

There's no reason why Netanyahu would comply, and there's not a single member of the Knesset who currently supports Netanyahu who would switch their vote based on what Biden says.

[Pericles]

The US doesn't get to do regime changes in every country in the world. Israel is one of the countries that this will not be accepted for.

And speaking personally, if America or another foreign power tried to demand my PM's resignation, I'd back them against it regardless of who it was. Being a sovereign democracy means it's our choice alone.

[President Johnson]

It's not upon a foreign leader to tell another one to resign or even "demand" it. At least not in public. Just as a general note, as much as I personally would like to see Bibi go.

[Anti-Penguin Tariff Voter]

I don’t see how this would be productive, even if I think Netanyahu is one of the most dangerous men in the Middle East.

[oldtimer]

It's not upon a foreign leader to tell another one to resign or even "demand" it. At least not in public. Just as a general note, as much as I personally would like to see Bibi go.

Angela Merkel did that to the PM's of Italy and Greece, so why not Biden to Israel ?

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

It's not upon a foreign leader to tell another one to resign or even "demand" it. At least not in public. Just as a general note, as much as I personally would like to see Bibi go.

Why wouldn't it be reasonable for the United States to put conditions on the military aid we send to other countries to make sure that aid was being used for the purposes we are sending it?

[VBM]

No. It'll just piss off the pro-Israel crowd, and the pro-Hamas crowd won't give him any credit for it. They'll just say it's "too little too late," or just make up an even more ridiculous demand that they'll name him as "Genocide Joe" for not going along with.

[President Johnson]

It's not upon a foreign leader to tell another one to resign or even "demand" it. At least not in public. Just as a general note, as much as I personally would like to see Bibi go.

Why wouldn't it be reasonable for the United States to put conditions on the military aid we send to other countries to make sure that aid was being used for the purposes we are sending it?

Because it would be an interferance of another country's domestic policies. Like him or not, Bibi was democratically put in office and if/when Israelis want to get rid of him, it's entirely on them. That doesn't mean Biden shouldn't or can't provide certain conditions on aid.

[oldtimer]

It's not upon a foreign leader to tell another one to resign or even "demand" it. At least not in public. Just as a general note, as much as I personally would like to see Bibi go.

Why wouldn't it be reasonable for the United States to put conditions on the military aid we send to other countries to make sure that aid was being used for the purposes we are sending it?

Because it would be an interferance of another country's domestic policies. Like him or not, Bibi was democratically put in office and if/when Israelis want to get rid of him, it's entirely on them. That doesn't mean Biden shouldn't or can't provide certain conditions on aid.

That didn't stop Germany interfering directly with the domestic policies of other Eurozone countries in the 2010's.

Or when Netanyahu tried to get rid of Obama for years:

https://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/barack-obama-benjamin-netanyahu-israel-114750

[falling apart like the ashes of American flags]

Has Biden even called on Bob Menendez to resign? And did he ever for Andrew Cuomo? It honestly just doesn't seem like his style.

[SnowLabrador]

Whatever it takes to consolidate the base.

[Mr.Bakari-Sellers]

He's not going to

[Duke of York]

no its not any world leader's place to call for the resignation of another.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

no its not any world leader's place to call for the resignation of another.

Biden did say that Putin shouldn't be in power anymore back in 2022.

And the US has a long history of actively deposing world leaders we didn't like very much.
Here, Biden wouldn't be calling for the use of force, just some political pressure by other allies in Israel.

[Joe Biden 2028]

I definitely support Netanyahu being out of power, but if thats who the Israeli people really want as their leader, it is appropriate for Biden to tell them otherwise?

There were more anti-Netanyahu oarties won more votes in the 2022 elections than the pro Netanyahu parties

The problem is the Arab parties very rarely join a governing coalition (2021 was the first time, although they supported Labor in the 90s)

Also, parties need to win 3.25 of the vote to gain seats. Otherwise their seats are divided to other parties. Had two leftish parties done a hair better, they could have prevented Netanyahu from winning 61 seats

[Banana Republican]

Biden did say that Putin shouldn't be in power anymore back in 2022.

Putin is not a democratically elected leader. It is fine to say that dictators should be overthrown or whatnot, but it is not fine to say the same about democratically elected leaders (with an exception if we are in direct armed conflict with them or something).

And the US has a long history of actively deposing world leaders we didn't like very much.

Yes, and this has been a mistake. Provided that a leader has sufficient popular support to be elected in a free and fair election, then this means we need to accept that reality and deal with them. Getting rid of the leader, even if we could do so, does not get rid of the popular support that is the cause of that leader's election, so we would end up having to deal with the consequences of that anyway.

Another way to look at it is that this would be a mistake in the same way that it was a mistake for Netanyahu to insert himself into US politics when he came and spoke to the Republican congress in 2015 in a partisan pro-Rep/anti-Dem/anti-Obama manner. It would only serve to justifiably enrage Netanyahu's supporters in Israel and turn their opinions against the US, just as Netanyahu achieved the same with his speech.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Doing this in the middle of a war would be considered pretty close to an act of war by Netanyahu. It's definitely not the kind of thing you do with an unstable far-right government desperate to cling on to power.

[mileslunn]

Its up to Israeli people to decide.  That being said his inclusion of some hard right parties has been very unhelpful.  If he had a grand coalition with Yesh Atid or National Unity I think would be less of an issue.  Inclusion of people like Ben Gvir and Smotrich in cabinet who not long ago were considered fringe right wing is a real problem.  The radical settlers in West Bank have long been an obstacle to peace in region.

[Ferguson97]

This strikes me as a win-win for Biden both on political and policy grounds.  What's stopping this?

It's not a win-win, it's a lose-lose.

- Biden looks weak after Netenyahu obviously refuses.
- It damages Biden's already tenuous relationship with Netenyahu, making it harder to get achievable concessions from Israel.
- The far-left and the Arab community wouldn't give him any credit, they'd call it "a distraction" or something. They will always move the goal posts.
- Moderates will see this as him abandoning Israel.

[VBM]

This strikes me as a win-win for Biden both on political and policy grounds.  What's stopping this?

It's not a win-win, it's a lose-lose.

- Biden looks weak after Netenyahu obviously refuses.
- It damages Biden's already tenuous relationship with Netenyahu, making it harder to get achievable concessions from Israel.
- The far-left and the Arab community wouldn't give him any credit, they'd call it "a distraction" or something. They will always move the goal posts.
- Moderates will see this as him abandoning Israel.

Biden could literally have Netanyahu assassinated and the pro-Palestine crowd would still refuse to vote for him because "he took too long".

[Progressive Pessimist]

Not while he still has to help negotiate an end of the conflict with him. It would probably be best not to antagonize him.

Now, with that said, if and when the hostages finally get released and the IDF pulls out of Gaza, Biden needs to be front-and-center in trying to help Gaza rebuild and for Israel to reach some kind of peaceful resolution, and if that involves new elections with Bibi potentially (finally) being replaced-so be it.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

Not while he still has to help negotiate an end of the conflict with him. It would probably be best not to antagonize him.

Now, with that said, if and when the hostages finally get released and the IDF pulls out of Gaza, Biden needs to be front-and-center in trying to help Gaza rebuild and for Israel to reach some kind of peaceful resolution, and if that involves new elections with Bibi potentially (finally) being replaced-so be it.

It seems very unlikely to me that the conflict will end as long as Netayahu is in power.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

This strikes me as a win-win for Biden both on political and policy grounds.  What's stopping this?

It's not a win-win, it's a lose-lose.

- Biden looks weak after Netenyahu obviously refuses.
- It damages Biden's already tenuous relationship with Netenyahu, making it harder to get achievable concessions from Israel.
- The far-left and the Arab community wouldn't give him any credit, they'd call it "a distraction" or something. They will always move the goal posts.
- Moderates will see this as him abandoning Israel.

Would all of Netanyahu’s allies stay with him if Biden did this? Isn’t there a significant chance Israel would be destroyed if is was no longer supported by the US?