2024-01-19 07:57:16
As the war in the Middle East rages into the new year, and concerns grow about the Palestinian death toll, US officials disagree sharply on the administration’s initial messaging of support for Israel.
In perhaps his harshest criticism of senior Israeli officers yet, US President Joe Biden noted during a fundraiser last month that the Israeli government was losing international support for its war in Gaza. He also referred to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as running “the most conservative government in Israel’s history” and as someone who “does not want a two-state solution” to Israel’s protracted conflict with the Palestinians. The explicit condemnation came just hours after Netanyahu publicly pledged to resist mounting US pressure to put the Palestinian Authority in charge of Gaza once the war ends and Israel achieves its goal of removing Hamas from its ruling role.
On the one hand, the United States supports Israel’s right to defend itself, especially after the attack of October 7, 2023, which may echo in American minds September 11. On the other hand, the United States will need to understand the trade-offs of supporting an ally that is under intense scrutiny from the international community over how it launches its attacks. This then becomes a broader issue than just foreign policy and more of a moral dilemma for the US national security establishment and even the nation as a whole. “We all certainly recognize that more can be done to reduce civilian casualties,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters last month. In a press conference held just one day ago in Washington, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken warned that it was “essential” for Israel to “make an effort” to protect civilians in Gaza, noting that there was “a gap between the intention to protect civilians and the actual results that we see on the ground.” ».
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin — speaking at the Reagan National Defense Forum last month in California — told the audience that he had personally urged the Israeli leadership to dramatically increase humanitarian access, stressing that “in this kind of combat, the center of gravity is the civilian population.” . At a press conference alongside the climate summit last month in Dubai, Vice President Kamala Harris stressed that the US position is “unequivocal,” in that “international humanitarian law must be respected,” and that “many innocent Palestinians have been killed.”
The difference could affect Israel in two ways: the first is the support that the United States continues to provide it on the global stage, and the second is the material and other military support that the United States provides. It will become difficult to provide the latter without the former, and matters become more complicated if Israel uses American materials in an attack that causes civilian casualties, for example. There is news about Israeli forces using white phosphorus provided by the United States in an attack in southern Lebanon, where many people were killed. Civilians. The phosphorus was provided as part of the military assistance the United States provides to Israel on an annual basis. For some context, the United States spends billions annually on foreign military aid that goes to hundreds of countries. Therefore, there is a chance that materials used by a foreign military may cause the death of civilians either intentionally, accidentally, or randomly.
Later, the Biden administration also said it was investigating reports by Amnesty International and the Washington Post that Israel used US-supplied white phosphorus in violation of international law.
Likud Knesset member Danny Danon brags about how Israel completely ignored weak Biden’s requests, then explains why: “Biden’s requests were supported by zero pressure!” They wouldn’t agree to a ground invasion – but we invaded. They did not agree to “bomb” Al-Shifa Hospital – we ignored their request. They wanted a temporary stop without hostages – we did not accept that. We do not have an American warning. “There is no deadline from the United States.”
Over the course of more than three months of fighting, some 2.3 million people in Gaza were forced to leave their homes. Israel says that its forces provide information to civilians on how to reach safe areas, and that the prevailing damage is due to the actions of Hamas, an accusation that the movement repeatedly rejects, and is rejected by reality.
In addition to external pressure, the Biden White House is also facing intense internal pressure to limit Israel’s attack on Hamas. This opposition highlights a strong division over Israel that is particularly prevalent among the younger generation.
The opposition, both internal and external, comes with political concerns given the rapidly approaching 2024 presidential election and the delicate balance between pro-Israel lobbyists in Washington and the changing demographics in critical swing states, including Michigan’s expanding Arab American community.
Another root cause is the view, which has supporters throughout the administration, that Israel’s behavior raises the risk of a broader war, and with it more attacks on American forces.
White House national security aide John Finer said at a recent conference in Washington that although the administration cannot dictate a deadline for ending the war on Israel, the United States “has influence,” even if it does not have ultimate control over what happens on the border. Land in Gaza.
But the extent of this impact, as the conflict continues, remains in doubt… However, American officials said that they stopped opening other potential borders to war by deterring Israel from launching an attack on Hezbollah in the Lebanese border region. They say in the administration that Israel will always be willing to listen to the United States, but it will follow its own path in the end. This approach is driven partly by the need for American support, and partly by its ultimate goal of destroying Hamas.
American pressure to end operations could prompt Israel to declare something like “victory” after it expels key Hamas leaders — but perhaps before it can completely eradicate Hamas’ infrastructure on the ground and below it in Gaza. The administration’s claims that it is successfully pressuring Israel on the humanitarian front are exaggerated; Because Israel has a strong self-interest to prevent chaos and collapse in Gaza.
But on the other hand, Tamir Pardo, former director of the Mossad, warned the Israelis that Netanyahu’s “extremist” government threatens to destroy the strategic relationship with the United States. He wrote: “The great danger to the State of Israel is that Israel, for the first time, may come into direct collision with America’s supreme national security interest. “This irresponsible behavior of the Israeli government and its leader could lead to an existential threat to the Jewish state as well as to the Jews of the diaspora.” Pardo, who was a strong critic of Netanyahu after he ran the Mossad from 2011 to 2016, said that there are clear signs of this looming strategic divorce, and the Israelis must take them seriously, and warns: “Woe to us if the Pentagon leaves.” And the State Department, one morning, issued a statement to Congress and the White House saying that Israel was no longer an asset to the United States and had become a strategic burden!
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