Once you’ve developed a taste for regime change, apparently it’s hard to stop. Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s chief of staff, is coordinating a White House effort to remake the Israeli government. His father Binyamin, a doctor and former Irgun terrorist, is the closest thing Israel has to homegrown royalty. Emanuel himself served in the Israeli army during the first Gulf War, vacations in Israel, and has extensive personal connections that span the country’s political spectrum. The Obama administration, discouraged by reports that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu disparaged and even ridiculed the U.S. president’s Cairo speech (even though Israel had been carefully briefed in advance), has begun a low-key unofficial effort to replace the country’s leadership. The choice of Rahm Emanuel, a pro-Israel hardliner, to head the campaign is intended to limit criticism that there might be an anti-Israel agenda at work.

Obama believes Netanyahu will not be able or even willing to move his predominantly right-wing government toward the American objective of a two-state Israel/Palestine solution. Without such an outcome, the administration believes it will be impossible to advance to phase two of its broader Middle Eastern policy, which is the gathering of moderate Arab nations into a league with the U.S. to forestall Iran’s drive to become a regional hegemon and nuclear power. There is particular concern in Washington that Tehran is extending its influence to include radical Sunni groups, as it already co-operates with Hamas. Attempts to convince Israel to make some major concessions in exchange for an American pledge of action on Iran have not worked, with Netanyahu going on the defensive and proposing a series of half measures intended only to buy time.

Emanuel, who will suggest to prominent Israelis that Netanyahu’s continued leadership role is not desirable, has carefully covered himself by discussing his plans with a number of American Jewish Democratic Party leaders. Most are supportive. Congressman Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) favors former Israeli minister of foreign affairs Tzipi Livni to replace Netanyahu. Livni has close relations with Emanuel and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as well as with many in Congress. She is viewed as both a moderate and a realist, and it helps that she actually outpolled Netanyahu in the last Israeli election, though she was unable to pull together a coalition.

Clinton is helping the Emanuel effort by making negative comments about Netanyahu’s reliance on extremists, including Minister of Interior Avigdor Lieberman, who supports racist legislation directed at Israel’s Arab minority and who recently confirmed planned expansion of West Bank settlements in defiance of Washington. Emanuel believes that Netanyahu will probably not be able to maintain his coalition in power for more than the next several months, particularly if subjected to sniping from Washington, due to defections from already disgruntled Labor Party politicians. That will give Livni and her Kadima Party the opportunity to resume power. Not surprisingly, Netanyahu is aware of what is going on. 
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Philip Giraldi, a former CIA Officer, is a fellow with the American Conservative Defense Alliance.