“NBC”: The United States is helpless, the White House is frustrated, and Netanyahu sets the “agenda” for the Middle East, not Biden

The American channel “NBC” reported that Israel’s assassination of Hassan Nasrallah confirmed how Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set the agenda in the Middle East in recent months, with the Biden-led White House unable to shape events or defuse the conflict spreading in the region.

Current and former officials said that officials in the Biden administration were shocked by the Israeli air strikes on Friday in southern Beirut that killed Hassan Nasrallah and other prominent figures in the Lebanese faction.

In the days before the Israeli attack, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was moving extensively between delegations in New York during the United Nations General Assembly session in an attempt to reach a 21-day ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese detachments.

The Biden administration was so confident of the success of the proposal that a senior administration official was speaking to reporters after its first public appearance, stressing that the agreement between the two parties had become an inevitable outcome.

American and European officials thought they were close to reaching an agreement, but then television images appeared of a huge column of smoke rising over southern Beirut.

American officials stated that President Joe Biden, senior Pentagon leaders, and other senior officials throughout the administration felt angry about the timing of the operation carried out by the Israeli government.

Continued Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon, which have killed more than 1,500 people in two weeks according to Lebanese health officials, have reinforced administration fears that Netanyahu’s aggressive approach could trigger a chain reaction leading to a broader regional war that could embroil the United States.

The White House said in a statement on Saturday that the strike that killed Nasrallah achieved “a measure of justice for his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis, and Lebanese civilians,” but it also called for the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon to be de-escalated through diplomatic means and said the time has come. For all parties to accept the ceasefire agreements proposed on the table in Gaza and Lebanon.

Facing another failed US-led attempt at de-escalation, Blinken once again urged Israel to choose diplomacy, warning that the alternative would lead to “more instability and insecurity, and the repercussions will be felt by the world.”

“The choices that all parties make in the coming days will determine the path this region will take, with dire consequences for its people now and perhaps for years to come,” Blinken said on Friday in statements after the strike that was later confirmed to have killed Nasrallah.

The American channel indicated that the assassination of Nasrallah was just the latest example of how Netanyahu and his far-right ruling coalition have followed their own path since Palestinian faction militants in Gaza launched a surprise attack on Israel nearly a year ago, rejecting international criticism of the number of civilian deaths in Gaza.

Since Israel launched its attack on Gaza last year, more than 41,000 people have died, according to Palestinian health officials.

In the days following the October 7 attack, Biden embraced Netanyahu, believing that overt American support for Israel would lead to a willingness to agree to some American demands. Instead, Biden and his aides appeared to have less and less influence over Netanyahu over the past year.

As the civilian death toll in Gaza rose, US officials repeatedly made private and public appeals to the Israeli government to change its tactics in Gaza and agree to a settlement that would allow for a ceasefire agreement, but these appeals failed to sway Washington’s closest allies in the region and even vague threats to The administration may reduce or suspend arms deliveries but did not have a tangible impact on Netanyahu’s decision-making process.

For his part, Biden was not willing to stop military aid to Israel despite calls from some of his fellow Democrats in Congress, as the United States continued to send 2,000-pound bombs and “Hellfire” missiles to Israel.

But even if the administration takes the unprecedented step of reducing arms shipments, it is not clear whether it will change Israel’s position, as analysts say, as Israel has large stockpiles of weapons.

Western officials and analysts say Biden has been powerless to change Netanyahu, partly because Israel has a different set of goals and partly because the prime minister cannot afford to isolate the far-right political voices that are part of his ruling coalition.

For Israel and Biden’s Republican critics, the administration’s concerns about escalation are unjustified.

The Israeli Prime Minister and his supporters believe that the best way to prevent a broader war is to respond to Iran and its proxies, raising the cost of any attack on Israel and forcing its opponents to recalculate the benefits of attacking Israel.

A senior Israeli official said they hope the operation against Nasrallah will eliminate the need for a ground invasion of Lebanon, but added that Israel will exploit the momentum it has now that its opponent has retreated.

The Israeli official expressed gratitude for the support provided by the United States to defend Israel against missiles from Iran and its proxies, but said that only Israel is actually fighting against what he described as an existential threat.

Not only did Washington face difficulties in its diplomacy with Israel, but the administration also found that its Arab allies and partners were reluctant to throw their full weight in support of efforts aimed at weakening the Palestinian or Lebanese factions or other measures that might spark anger among their Muslim peoples.

Writer Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace says: The conflicts currently taking place between Israel and the Palestinian factions in Gaza and Israel and the Lebanese factions in Lebanon, Israel and Iran are ongoing wars of attrition.

Aaron David Miller added: “There is no stable end, and no transformative diplomatic efforts that would radically put an end to these wars of attrition.”

He stated that the only available option is to contain or deter adversaries, and to take gradual “transactional” steps that do not address the underlying causes of the conflict.

He stressed that the one who will decide the next steps is Netanyahu, the leaders of Iran, Hamas, and the future head of Hezbollah, not US President Biden.

Source: “NBC”