Although a great supporter of Israel, Mr Joe Biden criticized her Israeli government yesterday Tuesday in an unprecedented way for its opposition to the two-state solution and warned that it may lose all international support because of the “indiscriminate” bombing of the Gaza Strip.
It is the first time since its outbreak Israel/Hamas war on the 7th of October which the US president has publicly and bluntly expressed his disagreements with the strategy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom he has a complicated relationship.
His deployment comes as Washington appears to be in despair over the way its ally’s military is waging the war, especially over the huge number of casualties among Palestinian civilians and the humanitarian chaos in the besieged Gaza Strip.
And this despite the US veto on Friday of a UN Security Council draft resolution calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in the Palestinian enclave.
“Bombarding in the Blind”
He said he had “no doubt” that Israel needed to “confront” Hamas, but, he warned, although the Netanyahu government has the support of “Europe” and “most of the world”, it is in danger of “losing that support with the indiscriminate bombing it is doing”.
Until yesterday, Mr. Biden avoided talking about “indiscriminate” bombings. Remarkably, he made the comments off camera at a campaign fundraiser in Washington.
The night before last Monday, at an event at the White House for the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah (the Jewish Lights), he had already pointed out that Israel must be “careful”, as “world public opinion can change at any time”.
Yesterday, during a press conference, Mr. Biden appeared to tone down somewhat, as reported by the AFP and relayed by the Athens News Agency. He said Washington “must support Israel” after the “inhumanity” of the October 7 attack by Hamas, while insisting that “the safety of innocent Palestinians is also a source of great concern.”
“The measures taken must conform to the will to do everything possible to prevent innocent Palestinian civilians from being injured, murdered, killed, lost,” he said.
He also announced that Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will travel to Israel within the week for talks with Mr Netanyahu’s wartime government.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Thursday said it was “imperative” that Israel make protecting civilians a priority and spoke of a “gap” between its stated intention to do so and the reality on the ground.
More and more voices in the US, especially on the left wing of the Democrats, are being raised and calling on President Biden to show much more rigor towards Israel, if not to set conditions on the continuation of US military aid.
“Disagreements”
Referring to Benjamin Netanyahu, the US president, 81, said he is a “good friend” but “he has to change, along with his government,” and “this government makes it very difficult to change.”according to a transcript of his deposition released by the White House.
“This is the most conservative government in the history of Israel” and “does not want a two-state solution”, he stressed, referring to Itamar Ben Gvir by name, and recalling that for him the opposite is true, he considers the two-state solution to be the only one sustainable in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Confirming tensions with his main ally, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu admitted yesterday that he has “disagreements” with the US president, that the two’s vision for the longer-term future is very different.
He insisted he “will not repeat the mistake of Oslo”, referring to the 1993 accords that led to the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in anticipation of a Palestinian state. He also said that the Gaza Strip would not become either “Hamastan” or “Fatahstan”, referring respectively to the Palestinian Islamist movement that has ruled the enclave since 2007 and the faction of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. He did not make clear what his plan is for the enclave.
The US government favors the idea of the Palestinian Authority taking over the governance of the Gaza Strip after the war ends.
Source: News Beast
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