Just over a week ago, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the US. The red carpet was rolled out for him in what was an official state visit even though some in President Joe Biden's Democratic Party have been highly critical of the leader of the world's largest democracy. The progressive eye rollers believe Modi is hardly a democrat and is guilty of human rights through oppressive means. Do these accusations sound familiar?
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Because of this pushback against the arrival of the right-wing Indian premier, Biden had put off the visit for months, but he ultimately chose to go ahead with it, figuring this was in America's best interests. Modi, who was elected democratically, has not joined the Western sanctions regime against Russia. He has also been moving closer to China (and recently snatched the title of the most populous country).
However noble the US is in its preaching of morals and enlightenment, considering that it is already up in arms with China and boycotting Russia, it cannot afford to lose India. Letting that happen would put America at a global disadvantage, something that Biden would not be able to stomach. Thus, just like he ultimately came around to embrace Saudi Arabia, he has now started courting India.
We can assume that here in Israel, the Prime Minister's Office is following this game of global chess very closely and drawing the proper conclusions. For the past seven months, Biden has been sidelining Netanyahu and bolstering his political rivals in Israel. It is time to show strength – or alternatively to release a trial balloon. In this case, a Chinese trial balloon would signal that he has an alternative. Perhaps that's why he referenced the book" A Tale of Five Balloons" when he spoke at the Knesset this week. Netanyahu is essentially telling the American president that if he wants to boast that he has gotten Israeli approval for supplying Iron Dome to Ukraine, and if he wants to avoid more erosion of the US standing in the region, he should formally invite him to Washington. This is the maneuver Jerusalem has been engaged in as of late.
In late September, Netanyahu is expected to attend the annual General Debate at the UN General Assembly, as usual. It's hard to believe that he would visit Beijing before that, and it is no coincidence that when he announced this week that he was going to visit China he did not specify a date. Thus it is likely that he is eying an arrival in China for the period after the Jewish High Holy Days, possibly during the bilateral technological meeting the two countries hold every year, which is the most plausible scenario.
Will the White House get the message? It depends on Biden and his people.
There is still a long way to go in the 1000-mile journey for China to become an alternative to the US. As far as Israel is concerned, there is no such viable option for the foreseeable future, and this much has been clearly communicated by Netanyahu's office.
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