Was Netanyahu’s message worth the diplomatic damage it caused?

For weeks before his plane set off for Washington, Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the US Congress was exhaustingly analysed here in DC. Did Speaker Boehner adequately notify the White House about the invitation? How angry was the President really about this fait accompli? Were the Republicans using the invite to try to show themselves to be more pro-Israel than their Democrat rivals? Or were certain Democrats talking of no-shows and walk-outs during the speech only in order to show themselves more critical of Israel than the Republicans? By the day of the speech it seemed both sides had need of the fight.

Of course Netanyahu had not single-handedly created this problem. As any member of Congress will tell you, the House has never been more divided, nor its partisan atmosphere more toxic. Democrats feel the office of the President is being slighted by Republicans while Republicans accuse Obama of fundamentally transforming America and now of hanging their best regional ally out to dry. Yet above such party politics the major point of concern was that the casualty in all this – irrespective of who was propelling it more – would be the historically bipartisan nature of pro-Israel support in Washington.

Of course cynics pointed out that Netanyahu has a domestic election to win. But his speech undoubtedly had a far more important overarching purpose than that. Both in opposition and government Netanyahu has spent many years warning of the consequences of a nuclear-armed Iran. Now that the P5+1 seem once again to be close to a deal which could allow Iran to enrich uranium while further normalising trade relations with the country, the point of Netanyahu’s speech was to warn America of the irreversible consequences of a bad nuclear deal.

The speech itself was typically impressive in content and rhetoric.