Netanyahu Seeks Support in U.S. Visit, but Will Find a Nation Distracted

With his visit to Washington this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel will step away from one political maelstrom and into another.

He is facing anger at home over the prolonged war in Gaza and failure to bring home the hostages held in the enclave. Washington is divided over Israel’s conduct of the war and treatment of the Palestinians.

But now, the U.S. government and the entire country is preoccupied by the political upheaval surrounding President Biden’s withdrawal over the weekend from the presidential race.

This was not at all what Mr. Netanyahu had in mind when he planned his first visit to Washington in almost four years.

“I will seek to anchor the bipartisan support that is so important for Israel,” Mr. Netanyahu said shortly before departing Israel on Monday. “In this time of war and uncertainty, it’s important that Israel’s enemies know that America and Israel stand together today, tomorrow and always.”

Mr. Netanyahu is also aiming to rehabilitate his image on the world stage — at least for his audience back home, where he is in a constant battle for his political survival. But some political analysts suggested that he was about the only person still attaching any importance to his U.S. visit.

When Mr. Netanyahu addresses a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, some of his staunchest allies will be sitting alongside fierce critics.

The invitation for the address was issued jointly by the top four congressional leaders in a show of bipartisan unity that belied a tense debate behind-the-scenes about receiving him. Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the Senate majority leader, has been sharply critical of Mr. Netanyahu and called for him to step down this year. But in joining the leaders’ request for the address to Congress, he said that America’s relationship with Israel “transcends one person or prime minister.”

As a result, this address is expected to be less contentious than Mr. Netanyahu’s last one, in 2015, when the Republican House speaker at the time invited him without informing the White House and infuriated President Barack Obama.

Israel’s settlement activity in the occupied West Bank and the issue of support for an independent Palestinian state are perennial points of contention between Israeli governments and Democratic administrations.

Last week, a majority of Israel’s Parliament voted to reject the establishment of a Palestinian state. The far-right parties on whose support Mr. Netanyahu depends want to annex the entire West Bank.

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