Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may have to swallow the bitter pill of the United States’s agreement with Iran in order to say “I told you so” later on, the prime minister’s former communications adviser, Aviv Bushinsky, said in an interview with 103FM on Monday.
Bushinsky explained that despite the current disagreements between Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump that are visible and out in the open, Netanyahu would not easily give up Trump’s support:
“On the one hand, Netanyahu remembers and bears grudges, but on the other hand, he is very practical,” Bushinsky said. “One of his bitter rivals in Israeli politics, the man who also defeated him in an election, Ehud Barak, who said harsh things about Netanyahu, later served alongside him. He was his defense minister, and they were very close.”
“Netanyahu is much more instrumental in these matters. For example, yesterday the president rushed to congratulate Trump. Netanyahu, despite all the anger and bitterness, also congratulated Trump.”
“I think that, despite all the harsh words and the well-known ‘Trumpism,’ Netanyahu is very instrumental. He needs Trump, and despite these words, I still think there is a strong partnership there,” Bushinsky said.
He later said that the many interests within Trump’s administration, including the “evangelicals and many members of the Republican Party,” would prevent the alliance between Netanyahu and Trump from falling apart.
According to Bushinsky, the question now is whether Trump will provide Netanyahu with something.
“There are elections in another 100 days. Let us assume that nothing happens for another 60 days. So what, will we go to war three months before the elections?” Bushinsky asked. “Maybe that is Netanyahu’s dream, but Trump is somewhere else. He sees the stock markets rising, he sees the price of a barrel of oil falling, why does he need this again?”
Changing dynamics of Trump admin.
Bushinsky also drew attention to the changing dynamics within the US administration under Trump.
“At the beginning, Witkoff was supposed to be the negotiator; he disappeared, and suddenly, the prime minister of Pakistan is conducting the entire event. This has implications within the US administration,” explained Bushinsky.
“JD Vance is more dominant, and he said that Israel would not like this agreement. Beyond the personal issue, I think Netanyahu made something of a mistake in his gamble. Do you remember Paul the Octopus from the World Cup? Maybe he should have asked him.”
Bushinsky also criticized Netanyahu’s handling of the war with Iran and the ceasefire negotiations, noting that it is “not a matter of him putting all his chips on Trump and Trump suddenly turning around: Netanyahu should have seen that the agreement was heading in this direction and either embraced Trump and said it was a tremendous agreement, or said it could be marketed, especially regarding nuclear weapons, which is the heart of the matter.”
“He did not go in that direction. He tried, in a creative way, perhaps even to blow up the agreement, with the bombing in Dahiyeh yesterday, in the hope that Iran would respond, and then there would be an escalation. It was the wrong gamble, and now Netanyahu himself has been left bitter.”
Bushinsky further analyzed how this strategic loss could affect Netanyahu ahead of the upcoming elections.
“I have this obsession with looking at past speeches. Netanyahu’s ‘sourpusses speech’ was in 2017. It is very interesting. Netanyahu talks about the ‘industry of gloom’ and says that everyone is upset by the results. What does he say there in that same speech? ‘Well done to Trump for withdrawing from the nuclear agreement.’ I think today’s bitter Netanyahu misses that Netanyahu of 2017,” said Bushinsky.
No news regarding Lebanon
He argued that Netanyahu is currently in an uncomfortable political position, having been “humiliated” with the announcement of the deal, adding that there is no news regarding the situation in Lebanon.
“Will the IDF begin withdrawing from Lebanon? What achievements do we have against Hezbollah?” he asked. “At the moment, the situation is not good. In this position, Netanyahu does need Trump so that perhaps he can provide him with something on another front.”
“Less realistic is the idea that this whole agreement will collapse, and then Netanyahu will come out looking great,” Bushinsky noted. “He will say, ‘I told you so,’ and that would be right before an election.”
“In my assessment, if [Netanyahu] sees that he is trailing in the polls and that the opposition has a chance of securing a majority, I think he will retire. I think the thing that would embarrass Netanyahu most would be losing to his former aide, Naftali Bennett, or to some pathetic figure like that.”
