U.S. Far-left and far-right blame Netanyahu for Trump’s Iran policy

A growing chorus of voices in the US, some connected to the former Obama administration or various far-left and far-right politics, have singled out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the bogeyman behind US President Donald Trump’s Iran policy.  On May 16 former Obama advisor Ben Rhodes wrote that “Bibi” was one of those “pushing to confront Iran.” Last week US Democratic Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard also blamed “Saudi Arabia, Netanyahu [and] Al Qaeda” for pushing for war with Iran. Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has sought to fuel this blame game by claiming the US administration is taken over by “Natanyahu firsters.”

Blaming Israel for US tensions with Iran has a long history in US foreign policy circles. In the 2006 essay The Israel Lobby by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, which later became a book, the authors argued that Israel and pro-Israel groups worked to shape the US administration’s policy towards Iran as part of a “grand scheme for reordering the Middle East.”

In wider circles on the far-left and far-right Israel is often seen as the shadowy manipulator of US Iran policy. “Who wants this war with Iran,” Patrick Buchanan’s official website asked on May 17. “Answer: Pompeo and Bolton, Bibi Netanyahu, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,” noted the piece. This talking point, linking National Security Advisor John Bolton, the Saudis and “Bibi” is remarkably consistent on both the left and right. Rhodes tweeted “with Bolton, MBS [Mohammed Bin Salman] and Bibi pushing to confront Iran,” for instance.

At the same time the anti-semitic far-right has also blamed Israel for Trump’s policies. One website that openly praises Hitler claimed that “Bibi satanyahoo” is pushing for a war with Iran.  “When did the US elect Bibi Netanyahu President? John Bolton, the Saudis and hawkish forces pushing White House toward war,” tweets another person, partially quoting the headline of an article at the CBC.

On the far-left the website Mondoweiss also has a headline that claims “Israel wants the Trump administration to attack Iran, but US mainstream media ignores Netanyahu’s instigating.” It is sometimes hard to distinguish is social media commentators are from the far-left or far-right, or are centrists who have simply imbibed this talking point in the US. Greg Hall, a property manager, tweets that “Trump’s Iran threat is actually Bibi speaking.”

None of the major media articles that have also taken on this narrative provide any evidence that Israel actually wants war with Iran, but that didn’t stop NBC from running the headline “from Bolton to Bibi, Trump faces calls for confronting Iran.” The headline appears to have been changed to “Israel, Saudi Arabia and Trump aides want confrontation with Iran. Will Trump listen?” A New York Times article pushed back against that, noting that while Israel has pressed the case against Iran, it had not pushed for war.

In a review of hundreds of tweets that sought to blame “Bibi” for war with Iran, the talking point was similar and clearly links both a far-left critique of US foreign policy and a far-right critique, both of which seem to see an Israeli conspiracy behind the Trump administration’s recent escalatory rhetoric with Iran. Many of the arguments assert that there is a kind of direct alliance between “Bolton and Bibi” with the Saudis often part of the triumvirate. This feeds a need to find a scapegoat for US policies that are more deep and complex. It’s easier to blame Israel and “Bibi” than to blame larger US policies.

The narrative is also pushed by Iran’s regime and particularly foreign minister Javad Zarif. He has invented a conspiracy involving Israel and what he calls the “B team” that he seeks to argue are behind US foreign policy decisions. His tweets in English are designed to cater to western audiences and feed the idea that a small cabal is responsible for recent US decisions. Zarif blames “Netanyahu firsters” for US decisions in the Middle East, also singling out Israel’s Prime Minister for disparate policies from Syrian to Yemen. Feeding the link with the anti-semitic far-right in the US, Zarif even put a photo of Trump with Jewish donor Sheldon Adelson, next to a photo of John Bolton and claims the US was taken over by “Netanyahu Firsters” on April 7.

The desire to find an Israeli scapegoat is one that Iran’s regime would like to push to get Americans to blame Israel. This serves Tehran’s interests as it seeks to influence US domestic policy via its own Iran lobby. It hopes that the next US administration will be more pro-Iran and pinning US policies on Israel is part of that policy.

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