Outgoing Israeli Ambassador to US Herzog reveals deep mistrust of Israel within Biden administration

Former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Herzog was recently interviewed by the news outlet Israel Hayom about his tenure in Washington, D.C. 

During the interview, Herzog revealed several previously unknown details about the Biden administration’s relationship with Israel under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

Herzog confirmed what many Israelis had already suspected – that tensions between U.S. President Joe Biden and Netanyahu were often very high. 

"The corks popped off and people had to sweat to put the lid back on,” Herzog said. 

Tensions with Netanyahu and his coalition government were not only restricted to Biden, but extended to members of his cabinet as well. 

Herzog revealed that former U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had decided to impose sanctions on Unit 504, a secretive IDF human intelligence unit and one of the most critical units in the Gaza War. Herzog was able to prevent him from doing so “at the very last second.” 

"He had already made up his mind. We succeeded in stopping him from dropping the axe at the very last second,” Herzog said. 

Besides the well-publicized 'slow-walking' of some munitions, and the hold placed on 2,000-pound-bombs, the Biden administration’s State Department exercised extreme scrutiny when it came to Israel’s use of American munitions. 

According to Herzog, the U.S. State Department runs an office dedicated solely for monitoring Israel’s use of U.S.-supplied ammunition – a measure not applied to any other country in the world. 

“There are a lot of anti-Israel people in the State Department who put obstacles in the way," Herzog accused. 

Herzog, like his brother President Isaac Herzog, is considered to be reserved and careful with his words, therefore, his admissions of distrust between the two leaders lend credence to the media reports about disagreements between Netanyahu and Biden. 

Herzog also appeared to confirm the Israeli perception that, under Biden, the United States was mostly concerned about preventing escalation and that their priorities did not always line up with Israel's. 

"There were tough moments, and there were times when the Americans lost it,” Herzog related. “More than once, they really laid into me, saying, 'You’re crazy, you’ve lost your minds, how could you do something that would lead to escalation? You’ll drag us into a war because you didn’t think it through, and then you’ll ask us to come rescue you.’” 

One such incident regarded the U.S. decision to halt the shipment of 2,000-pound bombs if Israel entered Rafah, in southern Gaza, which Biden had declared a red line for his administration. He claimed that such action would lead to massive civilian casualties and an international humanitarian aid disaster. 

"Who even remembers Rafah today?” Herzog asked. 

However, the Israeli ambassador also revealed that Netanyahu contributed to the difficult situation by publicizing his disagreements with Biden. 

Regarding the video released by Netanyahu, which detailed the weapons hold-up and referred to it as an embargo, Herzog called it “a mistake.”

“More than once, the prime minister publicized disputes. Perhaps he thought it would help, but it didn’t,” Herzog noted. 

Despite the criticisms against the Biden administration, Herzog said that, overall, Biden’s relationship with Israel throughout the war was “more positive than negative.”

“There’s no question about it. They sent a substantial amount of ammunition, assisted twice in defense against Iran, stood by us in international courts, and vetoed resolutions at the UN more than once,” he said.