U.S. President Joe Biden appears to be distancing himself from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he expresses his displeasure increasingly frequently and vocally, with Netanyahu vowing that international pressure will not deter Israel from advancing its offensive against Hama achieved “comprehensive victory” in the Sri Lankan war.
The disagreement fuels speculation that the United States may limit the supply of U.S. weapons, especially if Netanyahu moves to “finish” operations against Hamas, where more than a million Palestinians are displaced People are sheltered.
Conditioning military aid would be Washington’s most powerful tool to influence Israel in launching a war that has killed more than 31,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Although US media quoted anonymous government sources as saying that they were considering this option, White House officials refused to “accept the hypothesis”.
“The president has been very clear about our position on Rafah,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said at a White House press briefing on Tuesday. “The military operation in Rafah does not protect civilians, cuts off the main artery of humanitarian aid, and puts tremendous pressure on the border between Israel and Egypt. This is something he cannot support.”
Biden himself was vague on whether invading Rafah would cross a red line, saying he would never give up on Israel. At the same time, he condemned the actions taken by the Netanyahu government against Hamas after Hamas launched an attack on October 7 that resulted in the death of 1,200 Israelis and the abduction of more than 240 people.
“Israel’s defense remains vital, so there are no red lines [where] I will cut off all the weapons so they don’t have an iron dome to protect them,” he said in a recent interview with MSNBC, although he stressed that Israel “cannot let 30,000 more Palestinians die.”
Yet the president was denouncing it in a telegram. Last week, Biden, who received a warm welcome to the microphone while speaking to a Democratic senator, said he had told Netanyahu that they would attend a “come to Jesus” meeting, which was a A form of straightforward conversation.
An aide told Biden his voice could be heard, and Biden said: “Good. That’s good.”
election goals
Biden’s increasing public criticism of Netanyahu comes as he ramps up his re-election campaign in November.President faces internal competitive constituency His Democratic base.
He cannot give Republicans a chance to win pro-Israel votes. But he also needs to prevent progressive Democrats, young voters, Muslims and Arab Americans from deserting him, as a large portion of voters in some Democratic primaries marked their votes as “uncommitted” to express their disapproval of the president. Support Israel’s anger and thereby threaten him.
Laura Blumenfeld, a senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, who used Netanyahu’s nickname, said that to address his domestic political and foreign policy goals, Biden is “contrasting Than a political amputation”.
Blumenfeld told VOA the goal is to separate what Biden sees as Netanyahu’s “toxic war policies” from the state of Israel so that the president can follow his political instinct: protect Israel from further attacks , and helped free the hostages “without sacrificing his power.” Moral core. “
Biden’s dissatisfaction with Netanyahu may not be enough to appease pro-Palestinian Americans, especially if a ceasefire is not achieved soon. ‘Hold-it’ voters say they will abandon the president even as Biden’s surrogates point out that Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee known for anti-Muslim rhetoric and policies, might give Israel freer control over the conduct of its war .
“I lived through four years of Trump,” said Samraa Luqman, co-chair of the Michigan Abandon Biden campaign. She told VOA that Palestinians “cannot live through another Joe Biden presidency.”
Trump has avoided taking a clear position on the war, saying only in a Fox News interview that Israel must “fix things” and that Hamas’s “terrible invasion” would “never happen” if he were president.
Netanyahu strikes back
In response to Biden’s criticism that Netanyahu “hurts Israel more than helps Israel,” the Israeli prime minister fired back in an interview with Politico magazine, saying that he had the support of the Israeli people.
Netanyahu said that if Biden meant “that I am pursuing private policies that go against the will of the majority of Israelis and that harm Israel’s interests, then he is wrong on both counts.”
An Israel Democracy Institute poll showed that only 15% of Israelis want Netanyahu to stay in office after the war ends. But 56% of people believe that continuing the military offensive is the best way to rescue the hostages.
Jonathan Ringhold, chairman of the political studies department at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, said that in general, Israelis are focused on overthrowing Hamas. He told VOA that for them, protecting civilians and providing humanitarian aid are just “details.” “They don’t understand how important this is to America.”
Distrust of Netanyahu
Earlier this week, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released an annual threat assessment stating that “distrust in Netanyahu’s ability to govern” has deepened since the war began. The prime minister’s “viability as a leader” may be at risk, the report said.
“It’s clear that the U.S. government is going after Netanyahu,” said Nimrod Goren, senior fellow for Israel affairs at the Middle East Institute.
Goren told VOA that as Israel’s political transition process begins, the United States “is a participant in it.”
The report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which noted “the possibility of a different, more moderate government,” drew the ire of Israeli officials earlier this month when Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet, was questioned by Vice President They felt snubbed when met by Kamala Harris, Sullivan and Democratic congressional leaders.
Many viewed Gantz’s invitation to Washington as a sign of the government’s support for the popular centrist politician to become Israel’s next prime minister.
Asked by VOA if Gantz’s visit was a sign that the administration is looking forward to an Israeli government without Netanyahu, national security communications adviser John Kirby said flatly: “No.”
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