Ilan Goldenberg, a former official in the Biden administration, admitted in an interview with Israel’s Channel 13 that the U.S. government made efforts to remove Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from power following the Hamas-led terror attack in Israel on October 7, 2023.
Channel 13 reported that Biden administration insiders, who had previously remained silent during the early Trump era due to fears of political backlash, are now starting to share their experiences.
Goldenberg, who was responsible for overseeing sanctions targeting right-wing Israeli figures during his time in the Biden administration and later served as Jewish outreach director for Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, described a push by the White House to leverage Biden’s temporary approval among Israelis and Netanyahu’s declining public support in the aftermath of the attacks to push for a change in Israel’s leadership—particularly after Hamas backed out of an initial hostage agreement.
Goldenberg even indicated that the administration may have considered undemocratic strategies to bring about Netanyahu’s ouster:
“There were a lot of people who were talking about, including in the Oval Office, at times, the idea of, like, the president going out and giving a speech. … [Opposition leader] Benny Gantz was at 37 [seats] and Bibi was at like 15 [in polls], right? Like, he was very weak. Joe Biden was still incredibly popular in Israel.”
Breitbart News reports on the publication:
“You can end the war, get all the hostages out, get a, get a deal that includes even, you know, maybe even trying to have elements of Hamas to leave — or you keep doing what you’re doing, and Israel’s in a forever war, you know, your sons and daughters are going to keep fighting, most of the hostages are going to come home dead. … The idea would be to either force Netanyahu to come on board with that, or scramble Israeli politics, and see if you can trigger elections, or God knows what. That’s what people were saying — like, let’s just break this up ’cause it’s not going anywhere good.”
Goldenberg’s account lines up with previous events. In March 2024, President Biden openly backed a controversial appeal from then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) calling for Israelis to vote Netanyahu out of office.
However, Netanyahu’s standing among the Israeli public later improved as he resisted pressure from the Biden administration and launched a military operation in Rafah, a city near Gaza’s border with Egypt. That operation led to the rescue of hostages and the eventual killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
Breitbart notes that despite Goldenberg’s depiction of a potential deal, there was never a point at which Hamas provided firm guarantees to fully release the hostages. Most proposals were rejected by Hamas, and no agreement was ever secured that promised the release of all Israeli captives.
