Biden 'frustrated with Israel' but will not halt war: The Economist
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A report in the Economist explains how Biden's frustration with Netanyahu is growing but he does not seem to want to halt the war.
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In this March 9, 2010, file photo, then-U.S Vice President Joe Biden shakes hand with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his residence in al-Quds (AP)
A report in the Economist titled "Joe Biden is exasperated by Israel but will not stop its war" states that US President Joe Biden has recently harshened his tone towards "Israel" as he stated that he would accept “no excuses” for still preventing humanitarian aid into Gaza as pressure on him has been elevating amid the continuous deliberate killing of Palestinians, their starvation and looming diseases.
According to the report, one of the ways Biden has expressed his disapproval of Netanyahu is his administration meeting with Benny Gantz on March 4th and 5th his administration, whom the US considers a "centrist" member of "Israel’s" war cabinet, as a substitute prime minister, giving him meetings with the vice-president, Kamala Harris, and the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, among others which triggered Netanyahu as he has not had such a meeting yet.
Biden's strategy since Oct. 7
The report stated that Biden has committed to a four-level strategy. The first one is promoting what he believes is "Israel’s right to defend itself and destroy Hamas". The second one is preventing the war from spreading. The third is allegedly minimizing the harm to Palestinians and the fourth is reinitating peace talks to "create a Palestinian state."
It added that Biden, however, has failed to protect Palestinians from Israeli crimes as he believes that Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition has not tried its best to prevent or even minimize civilian harm.
American airdrops ' more theatre than a serious effort '
American officials have stated their air drops are part of an attempt to “flood the zone” with aid. The report stated that the latter is a "highly inefficient means" of providing aid adding that they cost three to four times more than providing aid by land. It elaborated that these airdrops are "more theatre than a serious effort at humanitarian relief."
February 29th, according to the report, was clear evidence of the chaos and death looming aid distribution as an aid convoy originally meant to "support life brought death instead." What is now known as the "Flour Massacre" represents the killing of about 100 Palestinians by Israeli occupation forces.
Biden says one thing, does another
The US has vetoed UN Security Council resolutions opting for immediate ceasefires in Gaza not once but three times. As the world watched "Israel" in the International Court of Justice in the Hague appointed to rule on the legal connotations of "Israel's" occupation in 1967, the United States stood fiercely behind the Israeli occupation. The US has also labeled the genocide case against "Israel" as “meritless”.
The report stated that the Biden administration has pressured Netanyahu in the West Bank. It further stated that the US has implemented financial and travel sanctions on four Jewish settlers accused of violence against Palestinians there. Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, has also declared settlements to be inconsistent with international law, it added.
As per the report's analysis, Biden’s main method out of the crisis is to call for a ceasefire and swap of prisoners, ideally before Ramadan.
“The US is trying to hold things together for one more week. They have put all their eggs in the hostage-deal basket,” stated David Makovsky of the Washington Institute, a think-tank in Washington, DC.
“If they pull it off they will lead a surge in humanitarian aid, and hope the worst of the fighting is over,” he added.
Even though Biden has been in growing disagreement with Netanyahu, he has refused to utilize America’s leverage more directly, in the manner of Ronald Reagan, who halted the delivery of weapons to "Israel" in the 1980s, or of the elder George Bush, who stopped loan guarantees to "Israel" in the 1990s, the report added.
US thinks Gantz is more approachable
The US acceptance of Gantz is a warning that Biden may yet "put his thumb on the scales of Israel’s unsteady politics," the report revealed.
After meeting with Kamala Harris, Gantz stressed "the imperative of completing the mission of removing the threat Hamas poses to Israel”.
The report stated that the Biden administration considers Gantz "as more tractable, and more trustworthy," as those who have met him state he is "keen on a hostage deal."
The report concludes by stating that even though opinion is changing, especially among young Democrats, " Americans are still largely sympathetic to Israel." It labeled Biden as "a self-declared Zionist," hence far into the crisis "he has lived by the dedication he wrote years ago on a picture" he gave to Netanyahu: “Bibi, I don’t agree with a damn thing you say, but I love ya.”
