By kowtowing to Trump over Omar and Tlaib, Netanyahu has severely damaged his brand in Israel

Israel has enjoyed decades of bipartisan support in the US. By clearly siding against Democrats, the prime minister is jeopardising that consensus

Being Trump’s ‘lackey’ shows weakness – from the outside at least it looks like Trump tweets, Netanyahu obeys (Getty)

Have Benjamin Netanyahu and those in his administration just made the biggest miscalculation of their careers?

Across the political divide (and the world) there has been uproar at Israel banning Democrat congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib from entering the country, over the alleged “boycott activities” enshrined in their trip to the Palestinian territories.

This was largely fuelled by the fact the decision followed an extraordinary tweet from Donald Trump urging the country not to “show great weakness” and let them in. The usual voices like the Palestinian leadership and Arab-Israeli parliamentarians weighed in – yet criticism of the decision also came from quarters you would not expect.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), the powerful pro-Israel lobbying group in the States, said every member of congress should be allowed to visit Israel. Several Republican politicians, who are fervent critics of Omar and Tlaib, also hit back saying it will only bolster attacks against Israel.

Even Yaakov Katz, the editor-in-chief of Israeli right-wing paper The Jerusalem Post, told the BBC it was a disaster on multiple counts. “Israel is becoming a political football” he said. And he is right.

In heeding Trump’s unprecedented call to restrict movement of his opponents abroad, the country now appears to be “Trump’s feckless lackey” as left-leaning Haaretz wrote.

It looks like Israel has agreed to help Trump bash his opponents at a very sensitive time: the run-up to a US general election. This can only upset the Democrats.

Last month Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to Washington, declared Israel would not deny entry to a member of congress, assuring both congresswomen would be permitted in the country “out of respect for the US Congress and the great alliance between Israel and America”.

It seems he may have been speaking without Netanyahu’s consent.

Israel has enjoyed decades of bipartisan support in the US and has subsequently been one of Washington’s closest allies throughout different presidencies, no matter what side of the political divide they sit on.

This has earned Netanyahu the nickname of “magician” from his supporters. No matter how critical of Netanyahu people are, most agree he has a seemingly wizard-like diplomatic ability to drum up support abroad and move effortlessly between warring camps.

It’s no coincidence that Netanyahu’s main campaign video for the Israeli general election, due on 17 September, features three multi-storey-length posters of him with various world leaders including notably Trump and the US’s arch foe Putin.

By banning Omar and only permitting Tlaib a humanitarian visit with restrictions to her grandmother in the occupied West Bank, Netanyahu firmly aligns the country with the Republicans.

Yaakov Katz warned that while Trump may win the 2020 elections, “the pendulum will one day swing back and it will hit Israel really really hard”.

A political faux pas of this sort isn’t great timing for Netanyahu. In just a month he too is facing re-election after failing to form a government in the last polls in April which he narrowly won despite campaigning in the shadow of three corruption cases. He cannot afford to be seen by the Israeli public to be upsetting factions in Washington.

Being Trump’s “lackey” meanwhile shows weakness – from the outside at least it looks like Trump tweets, Netanyahu obeys. Supporters of Israel have also argued that the political hoo-ha stirred up by the ban has inadvertently made much more noise against Israel than the two congresswomen’s trip to the Palestinian territories ever could have.

The action also implies the country has got something to hide, which those who back Israel vehemently declare to not be the case. None of this works well for Netanyahu.

As Katz told the BBC, Israel has really shot itself in the foot.