All language subtitles for Frontline.S41E24.Netanyahu.America.and.the.Road.to.War.in.Gaza.720p.WEB.h264-BAE

(overlapping news footage)

...taken hostage.

Young people at a music festival
murdered in cold blood

by the radical Islamic
terrorists of Hamas.

Retaliation already
underway....

Hamas unleashes
a shocking assault on Israel,

leaving hundreds dead.

The barbarism and
the savagery stunning mankind.

Hamas taking hostages.

Israel responding, saying

Hamas will bear the consequences
of the attack.

NARRATOR: It was 11 days
after Hamas's attack on Israel.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's
longest-serving prime minister,

was at Ben Gurion Airport
to meet the American president.

You could see that
he was lost.

He was lost.

He understands

that this is huge, huge
tragedy for Israel,

but also for him
as a part of Israel's history.

Bibi Netanyahu has always
sort of prided himself

on being Mr. Security.

So for the worst day ever,

for the most severe suffering
of fatalities and casualties

in Israel itself,

for this to occur on his watch,

it is a tragedy.

He is now descending
the stairs.

We see President Biden
come down the stairs

from Air Force One
onto the tarmac,

and he heads straight for
Netanyahu,

and he wraps his arms
around him.

NARRATOR:
It was an expression

of America's solidarity
with Israel,

but it also carried a warning.

It's called a bear hug,
but in Hebrew,

a bear hug can mean

wrapping your arms
around somebody

in order to restrain them
as much as to comfort them.

And that captured, I think,

the dual goals of this trip,
right?

Hug them--
"Yes, we are with you"--

but caution at the same time--
"Be careful."

This is an extremely
delicate journey now.

NARRATOR:
Israel had just begun

its retaliation against Hamas,

and later that day,

Biden and Secretary of State
Antony Blinken

took the unprecedented step of
joining Netanyahu's war cabinet

to discuss their plans

and the escalating civilian toll
in Gaza.

The fact that

State Secretary Blinken
and President Biden

insist on sitting inside
the Israeli war cabinet,

which never happened
in the history

of the relations between
the two countries,

this is the clearest example

they just don't trust them.

They want to be there

and make sure that things
are not getting out of control.

After 9/11, we were enraged
in the United States.

While we sought justice
and got justice,

we also made mistakes.

It was a warning to Netanyahu
and to the Israeli people,

"Don't make the mistake that
we Americans made after 9/11,"

which was to overreact,

to do what our enemies
wanted us to do,

and to unleash a
military conflict that causes us

all sorts of
additional problems.

NARRATOR: Two months later,
Gaza is in ruins.

Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu

continues to push back
against international calls

for a ceasefire, saying...

The problem is that
no one knows

what will need to happen

(explosion booms)
for Israelis to feel satisfied

that they've achieved

their stated objective
of having destroyed Hamas.

Gaza has become a graveyard
for children.

NARRATOR: Thousands
of Palestinians are dead.

(children wailing)

And so all that's left
is to just keep

killing and bombing

and killing and bombing,
until when?

They've prioritized
the hostages, rather than...

NARRATOR: With Hamas
still holding hostages,

Netanyahu has pushed ahead.

From the Israeli perspective,
what matters right now

is what happened October 7th.

And there's less and less talk

about what would happen in Gaza,

about the consequences,

about the world's criticism.

NARRATOR:
And now, tensions are mounting

between the Israeli
prime minister

and the American president
who'd hugged in solidarity.

Hugging Netanyahu turns out
to be a very risky strategy.

There are many people

who look at the situation,
and say,

"Well, what has this bear hug
gotten us?"

The U.S. is pressing Israel
to shift to precise targeting of

Hamas leaders rather than
widespread bombing and ground...

NARRATOR:
For Benjamin Netanyahu,

this moment of crisis
is the culmination

of a 30-year conflict

over a failed peace process

he has long resisted,

over American pressure

to come to terms
with the Palestinians...

It's not gonna happen.

NARRATOR: ...and over the
security of his country

that he vowed to defend.

With all this death
and destruction,

it's hard not to look back
and say,

"Where did the, you know,
road turn?

"When did it become inevitable

that we would head to this
cataclysmic conflict?"

The second guessing is haunting.

♪ ♪

Preparations are underway.

We expect to see
the president shortly...

...for what he called

an historic and honorable
compromise.

NARRATOR: Thirty years ago:
a hopeful moment in the conflict

between Israelis
and Palestinians.

It's a day for optimism.

NARRATOR: Two sworn enemies
arrived at the White House

to sign a peace agreement.

The deal was struck in secret
by the principals.

NARRATOR: Israeli
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin,

a former general,
represented Israel.

...have now agreed to lay
down their guns and...

NARRATOR: Representing
the Palestinians, Yasser Arafat,

the chairman of the Palestine
Liberation Organization.

25 years of armed conflict...

This is a
historic breakthrough

between Israel and the P.L.O.,

two national movements
competing for the same space,

and for the first time,

they're prepared to
recognize each other.

NARRATOR:
Known as the Oslo Accords,

supported by
President Bill Clinton,

it was designed to end
years of violence

by laying out a peace process,
a deal that could give

Palestinians their own state
and land captured by Israel

in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

President Clinton
felt this was his baby.

It charts a course
toward reconciliation

between two peoples
who have both known

the bitterness of exile.

NARRATOR:
On the White House lawn,

the tensions were visible.

To the last minute,
there were issues.

Rabin is insisting that Arafat
can't come in a uni...

anything that looks like
a uniform.

We're telling Arafat,
"Don't even--

you can't come with a--
you don't bring a weapon."

You know,
he always had a pistol.

"You don't bring a weapon
to the White House."

Then, at a point,
the president looks at Rabin,

and he says, "You're going to
have to shake his hand."

And Rabin looked like someone
had punched him in the stomach.

And he stood there for a moment.

This is a man he considered
a terrorist all his life.

(applause)

NARRATOR:
And then the handshake.

(cheers and applause)

An image that would become
iconic.

These hands that shook
knew nothing but to shoot:

the trigger, the bullets,
the bombs, the fight.

And the question to me is,
can this handshake

lead to the culture in the minds
of Palestinians and Israelis

that coexistence is possible,

that peace is possible,
to live and let live?

(cheering, shouting)

NARRATOR: But, in Israel,

an outcry against the
peace process had been building

among the ultra-religious
right wing

and security-minded
conservatives.

(crowd shouting)

The face of the opposition:

a 43-year-old leader of
the Likud party

Benjamin Netanyahu,
known as Bibi.

The P.L.O. Islamic State,

15 minutes from Jerusalem

or five minutes from Tel Aviv,

is a prescription not for peace,

but for dangerous
and renewed conflict.

(crowd shouting)

NARRATOR: Week after week,

Netanyahu watched
the protests build.

(crowd shouting,
woman screaming)

We're demonstrating against
the inability of the government

to maintain order
in this country

and to protect the rights of
Jews living in their own land!

NARRATOR: Concerned
a Palestinian state would pose

a security risk to Israel,

Netanyahu maneuvered
the growing anger

into a political force.

Netanyahu saw a moment of

betrayal and peril,
and an agreement

that would never
and could never work.

(crowd shouting)

He did not believe
in the possibility

of a deal with the Palestinians.

He didn't trust them.

He didn't like them,
he doesn't...

(crowd chanting)

...and he doesn't
want to have a deal with them.

He didn't want to have
a deal with them.

(siren blaring, explosion)

Suicide bomber boarded
the bus some way back...

NARRATOR: At the time,
among the Palestinians,

there was also a rising faction
opposed to the peace process.

The car bomb was aimed
at killing the maximum number

of Israeli schoolchildren.

NARRATOR: A recently formed

Islamic militant group
started setting off

suicide bombs inside Israel.

Its name: Hamas.
(men chanting)

When the Oslo agreement
is signed,

most Palestinians said,

"Let's give this a chance."

But there was that

core constituency

among Palestinians who said,

"The peace process is a sham.

"It can never succeed.

Only armed struggle
can liberate Palestine."

And Hamas became the embodiment
of that sentiment.

NARRATOR:
Hamas's founding declaration

called for the destruction
of Israel

and condemned all attempts
at negotiation.

It was another test
for the already strained

Middle East peace process.

NARRATOR: Their increasingly
brazen attacks

would fuel Israeli opposition
to the peace talks

and the rise of
Benjamin Netanyahu.

Arafat is a very
weak reed indeed.

He gives cover to the Hamas,

he makes a pretense
of fighting them,

but effectively allows them
to attack us with impunity.

Massive protests reinforced
opposition to the...

NARRATOR: Netanyahu's
opposition movement

reached a fever pitch
in October 1995,

when tens of thousands crammed
into the center of Jerusalem.

NETANYAHU (in Hebrew):

NARRATOR: From a balcony
overlooking Zion Square,

he addressed the crowd.

NETANYAHU (in Hebrew):

NARRATOR:
The crowd was with him

as he attacked Yasser Arafat.

NETANYAHU (in Hebrew):

(whistling, cheering)

NARRATOR: And then
the government of Yitzhak Rabin.

NETANYAHU (in Hebrew):

There's a really ugly
character to it.

The level of vitriol,
the anger,

the scope of these
demonstrations,

the kind of incitement,
the portrayal of Rabin,

dressing Rabin in Nazi uniforms
or putting a keffiyeh on him.

(crowd chanting)

CROWD (in Hebrew):

There were moments
when Netanyahu was advised that,

you know,
there are real nutcases

in the national religious camp
that, that we see,

that we need to calm down.

CROWD (in Hebrew):

Netanyahu never did that.

He never did that,

to his enormous discredit.

(chanting):
Bibi! Bibi!

(cheers and applause)

NARRATOR:
Then, a month later,

at the end of a rally
of his own,

Yitzhak Rabin was gunned down.

(gunshots)

(shouting, screaming)

The assassin--
a right-wing Israeli Jew...

One lone gunman was taken.

NARRATOR: Yigal Amir.

Truly shocking news
from the Middle East tonight.

Israel's Prime Minister Yitzhak
Rabin has been assassinated.

Evening spent
dreaming of peace

turns into a national nightmare.

NARRATOR:
Outside the hospital,

the crowd began to chant

"Bibi is a murderer."

(shouting)

(chanting):
Bibi is a murderer!

From Tel Aviv,
where this evening there is...

NARRATOR: The sign says,

"Bibi, Rabin's blood
is on your hands."

(shouting)

An assassin has taken

yet another world leader
away from us.

It was just after the biggest
peace rally in Tel Aviv...

NARRATOR: Rabin's widow
blamed Netanyahu

for contributing to her
husband's death...

The assassination of
Yitzhak Rabin has also produced

shock in the
Palestinian community.

NARRATOR: ...and said so
on worldwide television.

Your husband pointed
the finger

at Mr. Netanyahu, and said,

"You must stop this incitement."
Yeah.

To what extent do you blame
Mr. Netanyahu

and the Likud for what has
happened?

I do, I do blame them.

The rally in Kikar Zion

in Jerusalem that showed him
in the uniform of a Nazi.

So, Mr. Bibi Netanyahu,
now we can say

from here to eternity,
that you didn't support it

and didn't agree with it,

but he was there
and he didn't stop it.

(siren blaring)

NARRATOR: Netanyahu's
close adviser at the time

vehemently disagrees.

The attempt to pin on him
the murder of the prime minister

(stammering): is a cheap
political propaganda trick

that was taken by
his political opponents,

mostly from the left,

in order to
delegitimize Netanyahu

as the political public
and to delegitimize

the positions of Likud, uh...

in the Israeli
open political debate.

(man singing)

Your prime minister
was a martyr

for peace,
but he was a victim of hate.

NARRATOR:
After Rabin's death,

the peace process he had
championed was in jeopardy.

(speaking Hebrew)

His successor, Shimon Peres,

would now try to win an election
to keep it alive.

That meant facing

Bibi Netanyahu,
whose standing in the polls

had fallen in the wake of
the assassination.

People who spoke to him
in those days

have said that he thought that
his career was over.

NARRATOR:
Then, as election day neared...

(loud explosion)

Ten kilograms of explosives
reduced this commuter bus

into a charred skeleton.

NARRATOR:
Hamas had struck again.

The number 18 bus right through
the heart of Jerusalem.

Bombs packed with nails
and shrapnel

exploded in Israel Sunday,
killing...

There were some
Palestinian groups

trying to make sure that...

sabotaging of the peace process.

"Rabin was assassinated,

let us stop the whole process."

(loud explosion, siren blaring)

This morning,
the sound of sirens again

interrupted the morning
commute...

NARRATOR: Six days later,
the number 18 bus again.

Police combed
the hellish wreckage for clues

about a suspect...

NARRATOR:
The bus bombings were part of

a series of Hamas attacks

that killed more than 60 people
and injured hundreds.

Israelis did not, could not
believe the morning news,

another bloody Sunday.

A suicide bomber
has once again

blown up a city bus
in Jerusalem.

And Israelis lost faith in
the process, in that process.

One of the slogans that came

from grass roots was,
"This peace is killing us."

We see terrorism exploding
in our streets, literally.

So the only thing that we can do

is not to continue
on a failed course.

This is bound to lead
to more and more terrorism.

That's exactly what's
been happening.

NARRATOR: Netanyahu began
to climb in the polls.

He was able to speak

to the masses and translate
the horror of suicide bombers

into political power,

and say,

"I will be able to solve this.

"I am strong.

"I come from a
military background.

"I have the experience
and the spirit

to stop suicide bombers."

There are many ways
of fighting terrorism,

but the first decision
is to fight it.

NARRATOR: Netanyahu had
railed against the Oslo Accords

and promised security to the
growing number of Israelis

scarred by the violence.

The difference between
Mr. Netanyahu and the current...

NARRATOR: It worked.

... Shimon Peres is a mere
fraction of one percent.

Benjamin Netanyahu is
on his way to the United States

for his first visit
since becoming

Israel's prime minister.

Benjamin Netanyahu's dealings

with the president
of the United States

will be of intense interest...

NARRATOR:
Just over one month later,

Prime Minister Netanyahu
was at the White House.

...Prime Minister Netanyahu
will hold

a joint news conference
after they meet Tuesday.

NARRATOR:
Behind closed doors,

Clinton would demand Netanyahu
continue the Oslo peace process

and personally meet with
Yasser Arafat.

The situation there and
elsewhere...

NARRATOR: It didn't take long
for the meeting

to become contentious.

He came in
pretty full of himself.

And he was pretty much

telling the president
how to deal with the Arabs.

He understood how to deal
with the Arabs.

His sort of posture was,

"Let me tell you about
the Middle East."

And he then proceeded to

lecture the president on the
realities of the Middle East.

"Here's the way it is."

♪ ♪

Netanyahu wanted
to make clear that, you know,

even though
the previous government

had signed the agreement,

that he had some
real reservations about it.

And so, you know, I think
that that's why it got off

to a bad start.

And so, you know,
when the meeting's over,

Clinton turns and he says,

"Who does he think
the superpower is?"

(siren blaring in distance)

NARRATOR:
Under pressure from Clinton,

Netanyahu agreed to
a compromise gesture.

He would meet with
Yasser Arafat.

And I think there's a moment
where Netanyahu has to decide.

Can he try to

block the actual implementation
of the agreement

but concede some things
that Clinton was pressing for

in terms of an on-camera, for
instance, handshake with Arafat?

I think that was
the calculation.

That day, I was there.

And I was thinking,
"How... how will this happen?"

I was trying to do
whatever I can

to make sure that if needs to,

I will employ every
damage control mechanism,

every crisis management,
everything, and...

NARRATOR: It was a meeting
Netanyahu had insisted

would never happen.

Very, very hard.

Very hard.

He swore he would never

shake Arafat's hand.

(camera shutters clicking)

NARRATOR:
Once the handshakes started,

they kept coming.

And he took other steps.

He pulled Israeli troops out of
a key city in the West Bank,

and signed a treaty agreeing
to further implement Oslo.

But close observers say he was
slow-walking the peace process.

Netanyahu is an ideologue,
very deeply.

In every step of his
premiership, starting in '96,

everything he's doing
he's thinking,

"How do I limit this thing?

"How do I make sure I don't
have to give back more land?

"And if I do, what's the
smallest area of concession

that I can make?"

(camera shutters clicking,
journalists shouting)

NARRATOR: The compromises
would prove fateful

for Netanyahu.

Nobody was happy with him.

The left weren't happy with him

for what he was doing
to undermine Oslo,

and the right wasn't happy
with him

for what he was doing
to keep Oslo.

He was in a sort of
impossible balancing act.

(crowd shouting)

(speaking Hebrew):

At that point,

the prime minister's
conservative base folds,

and some people on the
conservative right

work with the Israeli left

to bring down
Prime Minister Netanyahu.

(news theme playing)

(newscaster speaking Hebrew)

NARRATOR: In 1999, he'd
lose his bid for reelection.

But he'd take with him some
key lessons.

One, his view of Democratic,
liberal American presidents

as the rival if not the enemy.

Two, the fact that

concessions on the peace process
could lead to his downfall.

(speaking Hebrew):

(crowd shouting)

NARRATOR: Netanyahu would
spend the next several years

working his way back into power.

Israelis and Palestinians

in a last-ditch pitch for
Middle East Peace.

NARRATOR: He watched as
Clinton brought

his left-wing successor, Ehud
Barak, and Yasser Arafat

together at Camp David

for another peace
effort that would have created

a Palestinian state in Gaza
and the West Bank.

Among the difficult issues
left unresolved

was the control of Jerusalem.

When Camp David happened,
the Palestinian team said,

"We don't think the parties
are prepared.

The groundwork has
not been done.

I think the problem with
Clinton was that he believed

that everything could just
be undone with some magic wand.

Barak made a far-reaching
offer, I think,

went further
than he was planning to do.

But for Arafat,
it was unacceptable.

And he said, "If I accept this,
you'll be...

do you want to walk behind my
casket?"

That's what he said.

I had a dinner with one of
the former

Palestinian negotiators,
and I won't name him

because this was
done in confidence.

And he said to me,

we and the delegation all wanted
to accept it,

and Arafat just
sort of blew us away.

And he said, can you imagine
where we would be today

if we had said yes?

And, you know,

I think about that conversation
often right now.

(explosion)

NARRATOR: The failure of the
deal at Camp David

set in motion a new round of
frustration

and violence on both sides.

(gunfire)

Palestinians were fed up.

There were years
of failed negotiations.

Security for them
went backwards.

Freedom of movement
went backwards.

Freedom of religion
went backwards.

The economy went backwards.

And there was a point at which

Palestinians said, "Enough.

We are done with this process
of negotiations."

And so everything unravels.

Everything unravels.

(explosion)

That cycle of violence

in which there were fairly high
casualties on both sides,

that definitely soured

both publics-- Israeli public

and the Palestinian public--

(loud rumbling)

against the notion of a
peaceful resolution.

(people screaming in anguish)

We see a rightward shift in
Israeli politics

happening around that same time.

And we also see a shift

happening on the Palestinian
side

where opponents of the peace
process,

violent opponents of the peace
process, like Hamas,

are emboldened by the violence
on the one hand,

but also the failure of
negotiations.

(explosion)

(gunfire)

NARRATOR: By 2005,

Netanyahu was back at the center
of the Israeli government.

He was finance minister in the
administration

of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon,

who had a new plan for dealing
with the Palestinians:

no negotiations;
instead, a unilateral withdrawal

of Israeli settlements
and troops from the Gaza Strip.

The Israelis concluded
a long time ago

that they didn't
actually want Gaza.

You know, they weren't planning
to annex it.

They wanted to actually
pull out of it.

They're going
to get the heck out.

And it's up to the Palestinians

what they want to do with it
at that point.

(speaking Hebrew)

NARRATOR: But Netanyahu grew
uneasy about the implications

of handing over Gaza
to the Palestinians.

He consulted a former military
intelligence chief.

Netanyahu asked me
what is my view,

and I was totally against it.

By evacuating all our forces,

we allow Gaza to be
an extreme country,

which will be
controlled by Hamas.

NARRATOR: A week before the
pullout,

Netanyahu resigned in protest.

I cannot be a partner

to a move that I think

compromises the security
of Israel.

♪ ♪

Jewish settlers have until
midnight tonight

to get out of Gaza
or be removed by force.

(people yelling)

NARRATOR: When the pullout
happened,

the army had to
forcibly remove

many Israeli settlers from
their homes,

deeply dividing the country.

This is just a trauma for the
nation of Israel,

dividing their country, pitting
the right wing against the army.

NARRATOR: In Washington,
President George W. Bush

had been pushing the
Palestinians

to quickly take advantage

of the moment and hold
democratic elections.

Mr. President,

we will work with you
to help realize

the dream of a free
and democratic Palestine.

NARRATOR: The Bush
administration threw its support

behind the Palestinian leader,

Mahmoud Abbas, who'd taken over

since the death
of Yasser Arafat.

Welcome back
to the White House.

NARRATOR: Abbas and his Fatah
party were unpopular

among many Palestinians who saw
them as corrupt and ineffective.

Hamas decided
to run against them.

In 2006, when Hamas runs,

they run a disciplined campaign.

The slogan was,
"We'll provide good governance,

we'll fight corruption,
and Islam is the answer."

That's how they ran.

It was open, free elections
which were promoted

by the United States of America,
not by us.

We didn't like the idea.

But under the pressure
of the Americans, we did it.

And Hamas won.

The sweeping victory by Hamas

is being described
as a political earthquake.

Already, though, aftershocks
being felt in Gaza.

Hamas's election victory in
2006

was a surprise to everyone,
including Hamas.

(gunshots)

Hamas was designated by Israel,

by the United States

and by many European countries

as a terrorist organization.

So this was not a government
that they could deal with.

(music playing)

It showed the fraught
consequences

of a democracy agenda.

Sometimes democracy
doesn't lead you

to the results
you actually want.

As we've been reporting here,

there's been a bloody and
violent takeover of power

in Gaza.

NARRATOR: Having won the
election in Gaza,

Hamas soon took complete
control,

driving out its rivals
in a violent civil war.

Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party
retreated to the West Bank;

Gaza would be Hamas's
stronghold.

Gaza becomes a fortress

for an organization whose
founding charter talks about

killing Jews
and eliminating Israel.

And they are now not just a
terrorist organization in Gaza,

but the governing organization
in Gaza.

And that means that the
Israelis

have to figure out how
to deal with them.

The Erez Crossing point
between Gaza and Israel

is now barred to almost all
Palestinians.

NARRATOR: The Israeli
government imposed a blockade

on Gaza.

It said it was trying to stop
the group

from bringing in weapons

and prevent its fighters
crossing into Israel.

The civilian population
are facing

increasing desperation
and misery.

But it also trapped
the population.

Israel says that Gazans will
not starve on a more basic diet.

The notion that you could
keep

two million people locked up

indefinitely,
with no real economy,

who are entirely dependent on
Israel opening

and closing the border to allow
movement of goods and people in,

where the majority of the people
are now impoverished,

I think, was not only absurd

but also quite cruel.

(gunshots)

Because it depended on periodic,

predictable eruptions
of violence...

(gunshots)

...that, from Israel's
standpoint, were acceptable.

NARRATOR: As Netanyahu had
predicted,

within a year Hamas was firing
rockets and mortars into Israel.

Israel responded
with airstrikes.

(explosions)

It would become
a recurring cycle.

(speaking Hebrew)

NARRATOR: By 2008,

Netanyahu was once again running
for prime minister

with a campaign slogan
of "Strong Against Hamas."

He is a great politician,

and he has understood the DNA
of the Israeli public.

He understands that you have
to look them in the eye

and you have to say,

"I'll keep you safe."

Benjamin Netanyahu appears

to have locked up the
prime minister's office.

NARRATOR: He was re-elected

amid growing fear of
Hamas attacks.

But during the run up
to his victory,

a new president had
entered the White House.

(speaking Hebrew)

Netanyahu was concerned.

I happened to be on a
reporting trip in Jerusalem,

and I went into the coffee shop
at the King David Hotel.

There was one other person
there,

and it was Netanyahu sitting in
a corner

by himself reading newspapers.

There was one thing
in his mind.

"Who is this guy, Obama?

"Who is he?

What is he really like?"

And he wanted very much to
point out to me,

as if I didn't know it,

that Obama's middle name
was Hussein

and that his father was
a Muslim.

What kind of objectivity

could this man bring to bear
on Israel?

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: From his first day
in office,

President Obama
had set a new tone.

(phone dialing)

His first phone call
was to Mahmoud Abbas.

He started off

by sending the
right signals to Palestinians.

And I found that, um,

very sincere,

because he didn't need

to make that phone call.

NARRATOR: Later, for his
first television interview,

he chose an Arab TV network.

I have Muslim members
of my family.

I have lived in Muslim
countries.

My job is to communicate
the fact

that the United States
has a stake

in the well-being
of the Muslim world.

It is my privilege
to come here...

NARRATOR: And he signaled
to Palestinians and Israelis

that he wanted to restart
the peace process.

(cameras clicking)

History shows us that strong

and sustained American
engagement can bridge divides

and build the capacity that
supports progress.

NARRATOR: In May 2009,

he invited Netanyahu
to the White House.

All right, everybody.

Just tell me when everybody's
set up.

Great.

Well, listen,

I first of all want to thank
Prime Minister Netanyahu

for making this visit.

NARRATOR: Obama took
a hard line with Netanyahu.

He pressed the prime minister
on a key issue--

stopping the construction

of Israeli settlements in the
West Bank on land

captured in the '67 war and
claimed by the Palestinians.

It wasn't a request,
it was a demand.

And I think that this shocked
Netanyahu,

shocked the people around
Netanyahu,

and sort of gave proof
to the people

who had been whispering
in Netanyahu's ears

that this guy is up to no good.

Settlements have to be
stopped

in order for us to move forward.

That's a difficult issue.
I recognize that.

But it's an important one
and it has to be addressed.

The signal he was sending to
the Israelis was one of,

"I believe that this has
to come to an end."

They need to hear that they
can't build Israeli settlements

any longer, that there has
to be an end to it.

NARRATOR: For Netanyahu,

his first meeting
with the president

couldn't have gone worse.

I think Netanyahu

recognized in Obama suddenly

a person who was hell-bent

on setting up
a Palestinian state.

They were better behaved
than before.

And I remember him coming
back from his first meeting

with President Obama,
something that tells him

that it's going to be
a different president,

super-intelligent lawyer.

He has a vision,

and something in what

we in Hebrew call a "neshama."

The soul is too cold

to be connected to Israel.

NARRATOR: Once again,

Netanyahu was at odds with an
American president.

Obama's peace efforts over the
next few years wouldn't be able

to break the cycle of violence
that had been raging between

Israel and the Palestinians

We begin tonight with
breaking news--

new explosions in Gaza,
fresh Israeli air strikes.

Sirens warn of another
round of Hamas rockets...

NARRATOR: Obama would send
his veteran conflict negotiator,

George Mitchell, to the
region more than 20 times.

Hamas security forces the
target

in a third day of
Israeli missile strikes in Gaza.

(bombs whistling, explosions)

(screaming)

Emotions were very high
and very negative.

(screaming in anguish)

There was a lot of hostility,

a lot of feelings of
victimization on both sides.

The circumstances were
not conducive

to moving forward.

Mitchell says that he will
be going back

to the region in the next
few days.

NARRATOR: Neither side
was ready to do a deal.

Mitchell back again in
Israel...

NARRATOR: Eventually,
Mitchell gave up.

He submitted his letter
of resignation in 2011.

I withdrew.

I concluded that the level of
mistrust between both societies

made it highly unlikely that
they would be able

to overcome that level of
mistrust and reach agreement.

The president of the
United States, Barack Obama.

NARRATOR: With his Middle
East efforts in trouble,

Obama doubled down.

For six months,
we have witnessed

an extraordinary change
taking place

in the
Middle East and North Africa.

NARRATOR:
Amid the Arab Spring,

he delivered a speech
at the State Department

that lasted nearly an hour,

but it would be remembered
for just one line.

We believe the borders
of Israel and Palestine

should be based
on the 1967 lines

with mutually agreed swaps.

NARRATOR: That Israel should
return land it captured

in the '67 war to form
a Palestinian state

was a familiar demand,

but one never endorsed so
publicly by a U.S. president.

It became the headline.

The headline in
"The New York Times" was,

"President Obama
endorses the '67 borders."

The rest of the speech about
the Arab Spring

went virtually unreported.

Now, for Israel, this was, um...
this was a major development.

Netanyahu believes if
you have a Palestinian state

in anywhere approximating
the '67 borders,

the potential for peace is zero,

that the capacity for Israel to
maintain its security,

even in the state it's in now,
will be radically diminished.

(plane engine roaring)

NARRATOR: The White House
had not briefed Netanyahu.

And as it turned out,

he was planning a trip
to Washington the next day.

From Netanyahu's
point of view,

he was convinced that this was
an attempt to ambush him,

embarrass him.

And put him in a situation

where, you know,

the president was, was

from Netanyahu's point of view,

weakening Israel's negotiating
position

by declaring
a stance on the '67 lines.

And so he was furious about it.

NARRATOR: When Netanyahu
landed,

his ambassador could
tell there would be trouble.

I've never seen him like that
coming out of the plane.

There was no smile.
There was no wave.

And you can almost imagine
steam coming out of his ears.

NARRATOR: Just as in their
first meeting,

the press was summoned.

Everybody set up? All good?

Let me, first of all,
welcome, once again,

Prime Minister Netanyahu.

NARRATOR: But this time,

Bibi Netanyahu would lecture
Barack Obama

on the peace process and Hamas.

Israel obviously cannot be
asked

to negotiate with a government
that is backed by

the Palestinian version
of al Qaeda.

You're watching President
Obama there,

with his face in his hand,

and you can tell it's not

going over well.

This is his house, and to be

lectured in his office,

it rankles.

Israel cannot negotiate

with a Palestinian government
that is backed by Hamas.

NARRATOR: Watching it unfold,

Chief of Staff Bill Daley.

Bill Daley is standing next
to me and he's going,

"Outrageous. Outrageous."

And he's just, I mean, it's
like he's almost levitating.

Because Mr. President,

history will not give the Jewish
people another chance.

Obama was treated to a
lecture

on Jewish and Israeli history

that just went on and on,

and deeply offended--
deeply offended--

Obama and his people.

It's the ancient
nation of Israel.

You know, we've been around
for almost 4,000 years.

We've experienced struggle and
suffering like no other people.

There was a sense of...

gall.

What gall.

NARRATOR: After the public
dressing down,

Obama faced a choice
about how to respond,

how hard to push Netanyahu.

I think Obama realized at
that time

that the price that he was
paying

for trying to ram something down
Netanyahu's throat

that Netanyahu didn't want to
have rammed down his throat,

was not worth, you know,
it wasn't worth it for him.

Israel's prime minister,
Benjamin Netanyahu,

telling President Obama...

NARRATOR: The Palestinians,
who had once cheered

Obama's election, now watched
with disappointment

as the peace process
not only faltered,

but Israel continued
to build settlements.

His approach has been
to send signals,

but to never follow up
his signals with actual action.

He didn't back up his
statements against settlements

with actual actions and saying

to the Israelis,

"You have to make a choice now.

Do you want these settlements
or do you want the money

that we give you every year?"

It's always just been one
signal

after another signal
after another signal.

And this isn't an area
that deals well with signals.

This is an area that requires
concrete action.

He proved
to the Israeli public,

"Look, when I defend you,
even against

"the strongest person
in the world,

"the president of
the United States,

"we still get what we need

in defense terms

and we still get this huge check

from the United States."

He managed to prove that Israel

didn't pay a price.

Israel has many friends
and allies,

but when they're mistaken,
it's my obligation to speak out

clearly, and openly, and say so.

Netanyahu, as expected,

continues to be
the prime minister.

We can expect a continued
tense relationship

with the Obama administration.

NARRATOR: Netanyahu
would capitalize on his defiance

of Obama as he ran
for reelection in 2015.

He publicly lashed out
at the president

over his deal with Iran
to curtail its nuclear program.

The deal currently
on the table is deeply flawed.

Instead of preventing Iran
from developing nuclear weapons,

this impending deal will
facilitate that development.

NARRATOR: He said it was
a grave security risk to Israel

that would also fuel Iran's
backing of Hamas.

It played well to his base
on the Israeli right.

He took an even harder line
on the Palestinian issue.

(in Hebrew):

He came out plain and simple
and said

there will not be
a Palestinian state.

And that was
the true face of Netanyahu.

Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party

has won what's being called
a stunning reelection victory.

(Netanyahu speaking Hebrew)

(cheers and applause)

NARRATOR: Netanyahu's
election victory emboldened his

approach to the Palestinians.

He would take advantage of the
fact they were divided

between Hamas in Gaza,

and the Palestinian Authority
in the West Bank.

(speaking Hebrew)

He wanted to divide,

and he wanted to make sure

that he doesn't have to
negotiate any deal

where you would connect between
the territories and Gaza.

From an Israeli standpoint,
it makes sense.

Divide and rule.

Keep the West Bank
and Gaza separate.

That's the best way to prevent
a Palestinian state.

Keep them both weak, but not
weak enough where they collapse.

NARRATOR: Netanyahu made
a particularly fateful gamble

when it came to Hamas.

With Gaza under blockade,

he allowed the wealthy
gulf state Qatar

to give Hamas hundreds
of millions of dollars

in assistance.

He allowed Qatar

to pay Hamas massive bags
of cash in dollars,

to buy quiet,
to buy calmness from Hamas.

This money was spent
on digging tunnels,

and buying rockets,
and producing weapons

now killing Israelis.

While Netanyahu was telling us
that he was our great protector,

he was actually contributing not
directly

to building Hamas
and making it a regional power.

Israel has responded
to a rocket attack from Gaza

with three punishing
air strikes.

Israel's military
said the strikes were a response

to a rocket fired
into southern Israel.

NARRATOR: Netanyahu has
denied he was empowering Hamas,

and pointed to repeated
military offensives in Gaza

against the group--

a containment strategy known as
"mowing the grass."

This notion that
every so often

there would need to be
predictable rounds of violence--

"mowing the grass,"
as Israelis call it--

(chanting)

...only to result in reinstating
the status quo

that existed before the violence

was an untenable situation.

I, and others, had argued

that eventually something's
going to give.

There's going to be
an escalation

that spirals out of control,
the situation becomes so dire

in humanitarian terms in Gaza
that there's a bigger explosion

than anyone had anticipated.

And that's precisely
what happened.

(loud explosions)

(cheers and applause)

Thank you.

NARRATOR:
With the Palestinians divided,

and Netanyahu pursuing
a strategy keeping it that way,

a new president with
a new approach to the region

came to power.
Thank you.

I speak to you today
as a lifelong supporter

and true friend of Israel.

(cheers and applause)

NARRATOR:
Donald Trump boasted he'd be

the first U.S. president

to broker an Israeli-Palestinian
peace deal.

Donald Trump neither knew
nor cared

about the history of
the Middle East

or the failed efforts
at Middle East peace making.

What he knew,

or what he thought he knew,
was that there was a big deal

that was looming out there
and that if you could make it,

you'd get a Nobel peace prize
and the deal of the century.

NARRATOR: Trump surrounded
himself with a team

that included his son-in-law
Jared Kushner,

who was a family friend
of Netanyahu,

and David Friedman, a
controversial figure

who supported Israeli
settlements.

You had these advisors
on Israel,

all of them Jewish, all of them

strong supporters of Israel,

none of them with any particular

background in negotiation

in the region in terms of
peace talks,

but with very, very developed
positions and points of view.

He was anxious to see
if there could be a peace deal

reached between Israel
and the Palestinians.

I will tell you candidly,

I, I was skeptical of that
from the beginning.

At the White House,
Netanyahu has been

full of praise
for the president.

NARRATOR:
Just one month into his term,

Trump invited Netanyahu
to the White House

to discuss the possibilities.

For Netanyahu
and his advisors,

this was first and foremost,
a moment of opportunity.

Trump seemed to them volatile,
unpredictable,

but perhaps unpredictable in
ways that would benefit Israel.

Bibi and I have known
each other a long time.

A smart man, great negotiator.

And I think we're going
to make a deal.

NARRATOR:
Trump gave Netanyahu

an early nod in his favor,

saying he would be open

to something other than
a two-state solution.

I'm looking at
two-state and one state,

and I like the one
that both parties like.

I'm very happy with the one
that both parties like.

(Netanyahu laughing)
I could live with either one.

It shocked a lot of people.

I mean, Trump was not of the

conviction that there needed
to be a two-state solution,

he thought that there could be
any number of ways

where this, you know,
conflict could be resolved.

And a two-state solution
was one of them.

But he, he was certainly
not pushing it.

That is really a sea change
in American policy,

because basically going back
for multiple presidents,

the idea of an independent
Palestinian state

as part of an ultimate solution
or resolution of this conflict

has always been the idea.

And he's thrown all that
out the window.

We expect President Trump
any moment now.

NARRATOR:
Trump would soon follow that up

with an even more shocking
announcement;

fulfilling a longtime wish
of Netanyahu's.

Today we finally acknowledge
the obvious:

that Jerusalem
is Israel's capital.

I am also directing the State
Department to begin preparations

to move the American embassy
from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem

Both Israelis and
Palestinians

claim Jerusalem as
their capital.

If you put the
American embassy there,

you're seemingly putting
your foot on the scale,

saying, "We take Israel's side
in this."

This is a historic moment.

We told them from the day
he started doing all that,

from the first day, there will
be no contact policy with you.

You are completely

and utterly boycotted.

You shall not be
a trusted mediator in this.

You are disqualified.

(loud blast)

NARRATOR: Palestinians
took to the streets to protest.

The U.S. knows that Jerusalem
is the most sensitive issue.

That was a move by the U.S.,

in a way, to tell Israel that
it has Jerusalem.

And deciding to have
Israel pocket this

before starting negotiations,

then you definitely do not

want to have negotiations
in the first place,

you do not want to see
a peace process ignited

in the first place,

and you ain't interested

in a two-state solution,
altogether.

Please join me now
in welcoming

Ambassador David Friedman.

NARRATOR: In May of 2018,

Friedman, Kushner, Netanyahu,
and nearly a thousand guests

gathered in Jerusalem
for the official ceremony

marking the move
of the U.S. embassy.

Jerusalem is the heart
and soul of the Jewish people.

Even the most left wing
Jewish prayer books

contain a prayer that God
will restore the Jewish people

to Jerusalem.

So for the most important
country in the world,

the most powerful country
in the world,

to recognize Jerusalem
as the capital of Israel,

the fact that that hadn't been
done for so long

was just an open wound.

It is now my great honor
to call upon

the prime minister
of the state of Israel,

Benjamin Netanyahu.

(cheers and applause)

What a glorious day.

Remember this moment!

(cheers and applause)

President Trump,
by recognizing history,

you have made history.

I was actually there.

I was anchoring our broadcast

from the embassy in Jerusalem.

And I remember I looked

around at the crowd.

It was just the crowd from
one part

of the political map.

You didn't see there

a lot of people from the
opposition.

You didn't see a lot of people
from the peace camp

or people who were used to
working with the administration.

It was a party of the right.

We are in Jerusalem
and we are here to stay.

And our brave soldiers,
our brave soldiers

are protecting the borders
of Israel as we speak today.

We salute them all.

NARRATOR: That day around 50
miles south, at the border with

Gaza, tens of thousands of
Palestinians had gathered

to protest the embassy move
and Israel's ongoing blockade.

(man speaking Arabic)

Hamas urged protesters to break
through the border fence.

(gunshot, shouts)

NARRATOR: Israeli soldiers
responded with rifle fire...

(gunshots)

...killing more than 60 people.

What the embassy move
symbolized to Palestinians was

that they were not going to have
a state with its capital in

Jerusalem.

Because now the president of the
United States had said that only

remain eternally Israel's
capital.

Unfortunately, there was
violent activity that day.

and it ran its course.

So we didn't focus on that--
we focused on our ceremony.

♪ Peace will come upon us ♪

♪ Peace will come upon us,
peace will come upon us ♪

NARRATOR: For Netanyahu,
it was a high point

in his relations with an
American president.

When President Trump
came in

and started to give all the
gifts

to Netanyahu's administration
and to the Israeli public,

it was like, you know,
every day was Boxing Day.

NARRATOR: Netanyahu's
government began a rapid

expansion of settlements
in the West Bank,

the very move Obama
had personally warned against.

Because I can tell you that
Israel does want to make peace.

NARRATOR: The Trump
administration backed it,

reversing the
U.S.'s 40 year position

that the settlements
were illegal.

The establishment of Israeli
civilian settlements

in the West Bank is not per se

inconsistent
with international law.

These settlements are not
the impediment to peace.

And I believe as a matter of
law,

and as a matter of right,

and I believe as a matter
of the Bible,

which didn't drive my
my views in office,

but certainly drives them now

that I'm not a public figure
anymore,

as a matter of biblical law,

this land
is, is biblical Israel.

That little piece of land
was given,

by God, to the Jewish people.

Seeing the U.S. performing,
behaving, acting this way

to the majority of the
Palestinian people

was definitely a source of...

...hopelessness.

And you know what?

Hopelessness is
a very dangerous feeling.

And when hopelessness
accumulates over decades,

it's not-- it's no longer
just dangerous.

It's catastrophic.

The president of the
United States,

and the prime minister
of the state of Israel.

NARRATOR: Adding insult to
injury for the Palestinians,

Trump and Netanyahu convened at
the White House

to announce what would be called
"the deal of the century."

I was not elected to do small
things

or shy away from big problems.

So there's this announcement
in the White House,

and Trump comes out,
and he's very proud.

He says,
"I've got this great deal,

it's going to solve the
Middle East peace problem here."

No sign of the Palestinians.

They want nothing
to do with this.

That scene was the most
vulgar expression

of what the Trump administration

and the Netanyahu government
were all about.

They were about liquidating
the two-state solution,

liquidating
the Palestinian issue and cause.

Under this vision,

Jerusalem will remain Israel's

undivided-- very important--
undivided capital.

NARRATOR: The deal offered
Netanyahu

much of what he wanted.

But that's no big deal,

because I've already done that
for you, right?

(laughter)

We've already done that,
but that's okay.

It's going to remain that way.

The deal of the century was
a fantastic blueprint

from the perspective of
the Netanyahu point of view.

No settlements to be removed,

a rump Palestinian entity that
they might call a state,

but was not really a state.

Would have no control of
its borders,

no control even of its own
water,

no control of its airspace.

It would not be able
to function as a state.

It would be a collection
of municipalities.

It is only reasonable that I
have to do a lot

for the Palestinians
or it just wouldn't be fair.

Now don't clap for that,
okay, but it's true.

It wouldn't be fair.

NARRATOR: To try to lure the
Palestinians into the deal,

Trump promised international
investment worth $50 billion.

An American president stands
next to

an Israeli prime minister

and tells them, "We will buy you
off with some money."

That scene has hit the heart
of every Palestinian,

the heart of Palestinians
who have been struggling

for a hundred years.

NARRATOR: Then Netanyahu
took the podium

and went even farther than
the terms of the deal.

I hope that the Palestinians
embrace this.

NARRATOR: He announced Israel
was about to annex

almost a third of the West Bank.

Netanyahu announces that he's
going to proceed

with annexation of the
West Bank.

It's a unilateral claim
on territory.

And it really throws a lot of
sand in the gears

of what's going on here,
because if you start

unilaterally claiming
sovereignty

over sections of the West Bank

without having made any
concessions,

what is the incentive

for the Palestinians to come
to the table?

And may God bless us all

with security, prosperity,
and peace.

Thank you.

(cheers and applause)

(man speaking Arabic
over loudspeaker)

NARRATOR: The Palestinians
were now effectively sidelined.

But unexpectedly,

it set the stage for a
major shift in the Middle East.

In the summer of 2020,

Yousef Al Otaiba, a friend of
Jared Kushner's

and the United Arab Emirates
ambassador to the U.S.,

saw an opportunity to propose

a different kind of peace deal
to Netanyahu.

Not between Israel and the
Palestinians,

but between Israel and some
of its Arab neighbors.

By this time, many of the
Arab governments

are eager to have relations
with Israel.

And the Palestinian issue
is a nuisance on the way.

And for some of them,
they felt that they were

always putting their interests
second to the Palestinian cause.

And when Israel speaks of
annexing

parts of the West Bank,
the Emiratis, in particular,

the United Arab Emirates,
see an opportunity

to prevent that annexation
in exchange for a peace deal.

NARRATOR: Al Otaiba said that
the U.A.E.

and other Arab nations

would consider normalizing
relations with Israel

if Netanyahu stopped
his planned annexations.

The fact that the U.A.E.

would even consider signing a
normalization deal with Israel

without consulting Palestinians,

was pretty remarkable.

It's really a sign of just how
much

the region has changed in
the past decade.

And how much lower the
Palestinian issue was

now on the, on even
the priorities of Arab states.

I think they saw annexation

as an opportunity for them
that if they were able

to prevail upon the U.S. and
Israel

to suspend that annexation,

that would give them sufficient
political cover

with the Palestinians to then
move closer to Israel.

They could say to the
Palestinians, "Look,

"we're moving forward with
Israel, but just so you know,

"if it wasn't for us, the
annexation would have occurred.

"So, you know, we have certainly
considered your interest as well

during this process."

NARRATOR:
At the White House,

Trump's team jumped on
the idea,

which played into a
long-held goal of Netanyahu's.

This was Netanyahu's theory
of the case,

that the world was
moving on from the Palestinians.

That in fact Israel could
achieve meaningful

and lasting stability without
having

to trade away land for
peace to the Palestinians,

which had always been the
premise

of the two-state solution.

("Hail to the Chief" playing)

NARRATOR: After talks
facilitated by Trump's team,

Israel and two Arab countries,
the U.A.E. and Bahrain,

announced they would normalize
relations.

Netanyahu dropped
his annexation plans.

It was the first peace treaty
between Israel

and any Arab country
in almost 30 years.

We're here this afternoon
to change the course of history.

Ultimately, the deal that
Trump announces,

with great fanfare

at the White House,
is not a deal

between Israel
and the Palestinians.

It's not the Mideast peace
you were looking for.

(chuckles)
It's a totally different issue.

It's a step forward, it's a
significant step forward.

This day is a pivot
of history.

They're doing all this

without any real movement on
the Palestinian issue.

For Netanyahu, this was the
crown jewel

of his legacy
to a certain degree.

(applause)

It's a wake-up call for the
Palestinians to say, "Guys,

"you know what, everybody's got
their own issues.

Not everybody is laying up at
night worrying about yours."

(crowd chanting)

The Abraham Accords
were definitely seen

as a betrayal by Palestinians.

And Palestinians, in general,
felt that the Arab states

had, had abandoned them.

(chanting continues)

NARRATOR: The Palestinian
Authority had called the accords

"despicable."

Palestinians did not take
advantage of the opportunity

the Abraham Accords made.

If the P.A. had gone to the,
to the Emirates and said,

"Okay, you're going to do this,
it's, okay,

"we appreciate no annexation,
but here are some other things

that you should be
asking for..."

And the Emiratis
would have done it.

But they were so quick
to sort of condemn them--

"you betrayed us."

There's a constant theme
of betrayal

in the Palestinian narrative,

and there isn't a constant theme

of responsibility
on the Palestinian side.

Iran sees the Abraham Accord
as a threat.

NARRATOR: The Abraham Accords
would incite Israel's enemies

and seed conflict to come.

What you see,

if you're Hamas, is the world
is moving beyond you.

They no longer care,
it seems like,

about the plight
of the Palestinians in Gaza.

And this is a deal that is,
essentially,

marginalizing Hamas,
marginalizing the Palestinians,

marginalizing their grievance.

And they're left to wonder,
"Well, what becomes of us?

"You know, what do we do to get

some attention
to our cause again?"

(man speaking indistinctly
over loud speaker)

You cannot ignore
the Palestinian people.

No matter how much you try,

by the power of the missiles

and the tanks,

as we have seen throughout
the years and now,

or by the power of the
complete capitulation

of a U.S. administration
like Trump,

or by the power of getting
some Arab countries to normalize

without a real solution.

All that, all that does not work
and shall never, ever work.

(people shouting, screaming)

NARRATOR: May, 2021.

In Jerusalem,

violent protests erupted
over the potential evictions

of Palestinians from
their homes.

(banging, explosions crackling)

The conflict escalated
when Israeli police

raided the Al Aqsa mosque,
one of Islam's holiest sites.

(rocket launching)

From Gaza, Hamas retaliated...

(second rocket launches)

...firing rockets
toward Jerusalem.

(siren wailing,
man whistles, shouting)

(explosions)

And in response, Netanyahu
launched multiple airstrikes.

(explosions)

♪ ♪

It was just four months into
President Joe Biden's term,

and the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict

was suddenly front and center.

(man wailing)

Early in Biden's tenure,

he has sort of a test case

of what's going to happen

in Israel and Gaza region.

(man sobbing)

And the question for Biden
as the American president is,

"Okay, what are you going
to do about it?"

NARRATOR:
He'd known Netanyahu

for more than 40 years.

And as Israeli forces pummeled
Gaza, he picked up the phone.

He basically is not willing

to restrain Netanyahu at first.

He says, "We're with Israel.

They have a right
to defend themselves."

He thought "We don't
criticize Israel

"on the world stage, because
they get enough of that.

"But we hold them close,
and that way,

"when we pick up the phone,
and we say,

"'Time's up, your military
operation has run its course,'

that they'll listen."

(loud explosion)

NARRATOR:
As the violence intensified...

(loud explosion)

...Biden pushed Netanyahu
for a ceasefire.

It ended in a sort of
a miserable draw.

A ceasefire was reached.

(translated):
If Hamas thinks we will tolerate

a drip of rockets, it is wrong.

As usual, the Israeli
leadership were saying,

"We've won this round again, and

Hamas is weakened and deterred.

"We're stronger.

We proved our military might;
Hamas is deterred."

(siren blaring)

NARRATOR: But for Hamas,

the conflict was a breakthrough.

They used it to tout themselves

as fighting not just for
Palestinians in Gaza,

but in Jerusalem as well.

They bombed Jerusalem.

They bombed Tel Aviv.

They saw themselves

as regional leaders,

not as a local organization

that is fighting Israel over the
border between Gaza and Israel.

So Hamas now is not just

protecting its fiefdom
in the Gaza Strip,

but now vying for

leadership of the
Palestinian struggle as a whole

by being the only party that is

responding to events
in Jerusalem.

(man chanting in Arabic
over loud speaker)

(crowd repeats chant)

In contrast to the impotence

and ineffectiveness
of the Palestinian leadership

in Ramallah.

NARRATOR:
In the wake of the conflict,

a photo of Yahya Sinwar,
Hamas's leader in Gaza,

sent a foreboding message.

What Sinwar did,
which was quite interesting,

is take a picture of him
sitting on an armchair.

The destruction around him
was quite clear.

This was saying, "Okay,
you're maybe stronger right now,

"but I haven't lost anything.

I'm willing to go for another
round whenever I choose."

At the same time, Hamas was also
beginning to prepare

its plan of attack,

something that it implemented

so horrifically
on October 7, 2023.

SOLDIERS (singing in Arabic):

NARRATOR: Netanyahu's go-to
strategy toward Hamas--

containment in Gaza--
was beginning to crack.

But his focus was elsewhere.

Netanyahu is currently
on trial for corruption.

Over allegedly accepting
bribes in a breach of trust.

NARRATOR:
He was embroiled in scandal,

facing charges of bribery
and corruption.

He and his coalition government
were briefly toppled.

His own personal affairs
lead eventually to

three different indictments
on criminal charges,

including bribery,

charges that he has always
claimed are bogus,

and are an attempt to
persecute him.

NARRATOR: To regain power,

Netanyahu courted Israel's
most extreme parties.

And so for Netanyahu,
he felt,

"I have no chance
but to go to the right,

even the very far right,"

even parties on the
extreme far right

that his own Likud party
had always shunned.

Some members of Likud
warned him that this will be

very dangerous,
that the whole government

will take a very dangerous
ideological direction.

Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu has inaugurated

the most far right government
in the country's history.

NARRATOR: Recently re-elected

and now the head of a new,
far right government...

Controversial plans
to overhaul the justice system.

NARRATOR:
...Netanyahu started pursuing

a dramatic overhaul
of Israel's judicial system

that would weaken the courts'
power over the executive branch.

It was a sudden
outpouring of rage.

NARRATOR:
Protests erupted across Israel.

Bibi is not here
for the democracy.

Thank you very much.

We see hundreds of thousands
of Israelis

in the streets, which is
pretty amazing for a country

of just ten million people.

And they are there
week after week after week

protesting Netanyahu's efforts,

which they see as a threat
to democracy.

They see it as a power grab
by the prime minister.

He's facing trial for three
different counts of corruption,

and for him,
it was a life or death moment.

He needed to change
Israel's legal system

so he could somehow
stop the trial.

That led to, I would say,

the biggest wave of protests

in the history of the country.

And probably the most severe

political crisis and
social crisis

in the history of the country.

Looking at this now,
after October 7,

that seems like a sweet dream
for Israelis.

But back then,
it was the country

being on the brink of civil war.

NARRATOR:
Inside Netanyahu's government,

intelligence officials worried
that the political unrest

was leaving the country
vulnerable to its enemies.

In many meetings,

the chiefs of Israeli
intelligence warn Netanyahu

that the political crisis,

and its effect on the military,

are perceived by Israeli enemy

as the time to take
more aggressive initiative

against Israel.

There were actually quite
a lot of warnings saying,

"Look, we're creating here
the perfect storm.

"And at one point or another,
one of our enemies

"would use that to start a war,

"because they would feel that
we're weak,

and that we're consumed

with our own domestic political
problems."

Those protesting say
that this is escalating into

an existential battle...

NARRATOR: In Washington,
President Biden

watched the situation with alarm

and urged Netanyahu
to reverse course.

They cannot continue
down this road.

And I've sort of made
that clear.

I... hopeful, hopefully,
the prime minister

will act in a way
that he can try to work out

some genuine compromise.

But that remains to be seen.

The president's meeting

with Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman.

NARRATOR:
For Biden, the unrest in Israel

threatened to disrupt a plan
he'd been nurturing

to take the Abraham Accords
to the next level

in the Middle East.

He and Netanyahu had been
quietly courting Saudi Arabia.

They did push,

and try to expand
on the Abraham Accords,

in particular with a vision
of Israeli-Saudi normalization

that would offer
a dramatically different vision

of the Middle East,

and one that would fit in well
to their vision

of creating alliances,
in particular

in competition
with China and Russia.

NARRATOR:
By late September 2023,

at the U.N. General Assembly
in New York,

a deal was taking shape.

Netanyahu met with Biden
for the first time

since forming
his right wing government.

There's a lot of anticipation
leading up to this meeting.

You see the friendly version
of Biden and Bibi, right?

You see the bon ami,

you see the collegiality.

"You know,
we've been friends for decades.

"And yes, we can disagree,
but on the important stuff

we're on the same page."
And it's an important moment.

NARRATOR: Biden used
the meeting to discuss

how to bring the Palestinians
into the deal.

When he sat down with
Prime Minister Netanyahu,

the main topic of that meeting--

which lasted almost two hours--
was about the Palestinians

and how they fit into
the Saudi deal.

Now, I'll say, Gaza was not
a part of that process,

and that's because Hamas
is in charge of Gaza.

(applause)

Prime minister of the state
of Israel,

I invite him to
address the assembly.

(applause)

NARRATOR: Less
than three weeks before

the October 7 attacks,

Netanyahu would
make a fateful speech.

He said, "We are going to
have peace with Saudi Arabia,

and the Palestinians
should not have a veto on that."

I've long sought to make
peace with the Palestinians.

But I also believe

that we must not give
the Palestinians a veto

over new peace treaties
with Arab states.

Which is,
in a different language,

from my point of view,

"the Palestinians
can (bleep) off."

Sorry, excuse my French.

Now, for years,
my approach to peace

was rejected by
the so-called experts.

Well, they were wrong.

Peace between
Israel and Saudi Arabia

will truly create
a new Middle East.

The leaders of Hamas,
as they explain to us,

they see this and they
understand that, in a moment,

the Palestinian issue

will be completely
taken off the world agenda.

(explosion booming)

Now, they came to the
conclusion--

a jihadist conclusion--

of blood,

of murder, of massacre.

(gunfire)

They wanted regional war.

There's an Israel
before October 7...

And there is an Israel
after October 7.

(no audio)

(muffled weapons firing,
people panicking)

The barbarity.

(weapon firing)

The hate, the raping,
the burning,

the killing of children,

the ruthlessness.

Those atrocities

are second only to what
the Jews met in the Holocaust.

(muffled shouting)

After October 7,
every single Israeli I know

is asking themselves
one question.

"Is this a place where
I can have a tomorrow?"

Is this a place
where I can live?"

Israel is at war.

We didn't want this war.

It was forced upon us in
the most brutal and savage way.

NARRATOR: Hamas had
carried out

the deadliest single assault
in Israel's history,

and it had happened on
Benjamin Netanyahu's watch.

He saw himself
as the greatest protector

of the state of Israel

and persuaded himself
and his supporters

that Israel was safe and
that he could handle everything.

Hamas will understand
that by attacking us,

they have made a mistake
of historic proportions.

He would manage
the Palestinian conflict

without attempting
to solve it.

He would keep Hamas as
an enemy entity,

but a weak one.

The problem, of course,

is that he refused to accept the
fact

that actually
some of his actions

were pushing Hamas

in the worst direction
possible.

Israel will win this war,

and when Israel wins,

the entire
civilized world wins.

NARRATOR: In Washington,

President Biden
was visibly shaken

by the killing
and taking of hostages.

This is
an act of sheer evil.

More than 1,000 civilians
slaughtered--

not just killed,
slaughtered-- in Israel.

I was just
a few feet away from him.

You could just see in his face
and see in his mannerisms

that he really was
viscerally outraged.

Hamas offers nothing
but terror and bloodshed

with no regard
to who pays the price.

I don't think
I've ever seen a president

quite as angry in a speech
as Biden was that day.

Let there be no doubt.

The United States
has Israel's back.

We'll make sure the Jewish
and democratic state of Israel

can defend itself today,
tomorrow, as we always have.

It's as simple as that.

These atrocities.

It's sickening.

We're with Israel,
let's make no mistake.

Thank you.
(reporters clamoring)

Mr. President,
what was your reaction...

NARRATOR: But despite his
full throated public support...

(explosions booming)

...as Israel began
airstrikes in Gaza,

behind the scenes,
Biden was concerned.

Their position was

no humanitarian assistance
should go into Gaza

until the hostages come home.

That was the unanimous view,

and the president wanted to
go face-to-face and say,

"We, we cannot accept that.

We cannot accept that policy."

...Air Force One...

NARRATOR: Within days,

the president arrived
in Tel Aviv.

President Biden
really wanted

to make a statement
with this trip.

It was really
a very dramatic moment.

He is now descending
the stairs of Air Force One,

making this
historic visit to Israel...

NARRATOR:
The famous bear hug,

with its dual message
of solidarity and caution.

He doesn't want to look like

that he is telling the Israelis
how to respond,

but he's just giving them
the caution of a friend,

is the way he would put it.

"We're with you here,
but, but be careful.

There are limits to
how far you should go."

The bear hug approach--

hug Israel publicly,

show no daylight with Israel--

while privately
delivering messages

to show restraint
and to be more cautious

and so forth,

that approach doesn't work.

It's never worked.

(booming)

There needed to be
a more stern message

about the need
to operate within

the constraints
of international law.

(distant echoing)

We are seeing unprecedented

levels of
civilian casualties.

(distorted wailing)

The vast majority
of people who are killed

in Gaza right now
are women and children.

And for what?

What is the upper ceiling?

Is it 20,000 killed?

Is it 100,000?

(indistinct panicking)

What is the upper limit?

(speaking Arabic)

NARRATOR: The bloodshed has
played into Hamas' hands.

They blessed, they prayed,
they wanted this to happen.

So Israel
will react with force.

The whole region is
destabilized.

And according to them,

the Palestinians
are not forgotten.

They were willing to sacrifice
Gaza and all the Gazans

in exchange of their jihad.

(crowd shouting)

Very intense few days
of protest around the world...

NARRATOR:
The humanitarian crisis from

Israel's military response

has brought
widespread condemnation.

Israel is a terrorist state!
Israel is a terrorist state!

NARRATOR: But with Hamas
still holding hostages,

Netanyahu has been pushing
forward.

(speaking Hebrew):

You go to Israel,

this is a country
that is united and mobilized

behind this campaign.

The mounting isolation
of the United States...

NARRATOR:
In the U.S., there has been

increasing pressure on
President Biden

to do more to
restrain Israel's response.

We all want
this war to end yesterday.

If someone says "Do you want
the war to continue or stop?"

The answer is, of course, stop.

But recognizing that,
if Hamas is fully intact,

it simply creates the conditions
for the next conflict.

This is an incredibly
difficult dilemma.

It's something
we are confronting

really even at this hour.

NARRATOR: In the face
of the criticism,

the president has been
trying to turn attention

to the day after.

We're working very hard

to bring it to
a point of conclusion...

to which something
better and more durable

can be established,

including, ultimately,
a Palestinian state,

and we've said that
very clearly.

I think the
only ultimate answer here

is a two-state solution
that's real.

I've been really struck
by the extent to which

Joe Biden and
some of those around him

have immediately revived

the language of
the two-state solution.

What Biden seemed to want
is to use this tragic moment

for something bigger,

for two-state solution,

for negotiation.

And this is
where he and Netanyahu

are, like, in total
different worlds.

NARRATOR: Now, the two men
who'd embraced on the tarmac

are increasingly at odds.

Last week, for the first time
since the war started,

Biden criticized
Netanyahu directly

for what he called
"indiscriminate bombing."

He said the prime minister
is beholden to radical members

of his right-wing government.

And he called on Netanyahu
to support a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu has staked out
his own hard line.

(speaking Hebrew):

Bibi now, here in Israel,
behind scenes,

is already talking to
members of the Likud party

and right-wing camp that,
"I am the only one

who will stand against
the two-state solution

"after this war ends.

"If anyone can
stand against Joe Biden

"and block
the two-state solution,

it's me, Bibi."

We have a leader
who's mistrusted

by three out of four Israelis.

And yet he's leading us
through our worst crisis

since this country was
established 75 years ago.

And this is
part of the tragedy.

We may be facing

not only our
worst security situation,

but also
a huge political crisis

with no kind of solution
on the horizon.

There is no going back.

Everyone agrees.

Israelis, Americans,

Palestinians,
Gaza, West Bank,

anywhere you ask,
everyone agrees

there's no going back
to the October 6 status quo.

The question is,
where do we go from here?

Is it a pathway
to something less awful?

Or is it more destruction
and death, and...

and something
considerably worse

than what we've had before?

Those are still open questions.