Washington.-The political relationship between Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu is at its lowest level since the terrorist attack committed by Hamas once morest Israel on October 7, 2023. Biden and Netanyahu have known each other for decades and always had a friendly relationship, but the will of the Israeli premier to advance on the city of Rafah (southern Gaza) caused an abrupt confrontation with the president of the United States.
The dispute between Biden and Netanyahu had an unexpected consequence in the diplomatic ties that unite Washington and Jerusalem: the White House decided to suspend the delivery of war material that Israel would use in the eventual offensive once morest Hamas troops in Rafah.
This position of Biden is similar to the decision that Ronald Reagan took when Israel occupied Lebanon and bombed piecemeal by order of General Ariel Sharon. In August 1982, Reagan argued over this military move with Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and then suspended arms supplies to his Middle East ally.
Forty-two years later, Biden retained 1,800 900-kilo bombs and 1,700 225-kilo bombs that might fall on Rafah, they revealed to Infobae at the Pentagon. During a report given to CNN, the Democratic leader acknowledged that bombs provided by the United States to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had killed civilians in the Strip.
In the West Wing of the White House they recognize that Rafah is the last refuge of terrorist leader Yahya Sinwar, but they add that a deep offensive once morest that Gaza city might multiply civilian deaths without implying the extermination of Hamas.
The Biden administration’s discomfort with Netanyahu is not only based on the probable landing in Rafah. His trusted advisors add that it was very irritating that the Israeli premier and his main members of the center-right government appeared in the local media questioning the decision of the President of the United States to freeze the shipment of bombs to Tel Aviv.
“If we have to be alone, we will be. We are on the eve of Independence Day (May 14). In the War of Independence, 76 years ago, we were few once morest many. We had no weapons, there was an arms embargo on Israel, but with the greatness of spirit, bravery and unity among us, we won. “We will fight tooth and nail, and we will win together,” Netanyahu said.
The Israeli premier already made a preemptive move at the beginning of the week when he took the main border crossing between Gaza and Egypt without advancing on the urban areas of Rafah.
That tactical move angered the Democratic government, startled Egyptian President Abdulfatah al-Sisi and suspended -sine die- the negotiations to establish a ceasefire and get Hamas to hand over the live hostages and the bodies of the dead hostages it captured on September 7. October 2023.
Biden’s warning to Netanyahu placed the Israeli premier at a crossroads: Washington will never cancel support for Jerusalem, but if it advances on Rafah, its relationship with the White House will enter an open-ended political dynamic.
Antony Blinken, Secretary of State, and William Burns, director of the CIA, opened their backchannel with the Middle East and are looking for different alternatives to prevent the fissure between the two leaders from deepening and then leading to a diplomatic crisis that would only benefit Iran. the regional power that finances Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have enough bombs in their arsenals, and are only waiting for Netanyahu’s order.Infobae.
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2024-05-12 05:30:13
