An article published by the British Financial Times newspaper explained that US President Joe Biden’s strong support for Israel risks harming his re-election prospects for a new presidential term, explaining that his apparent indifference to the Palestinians may be costly.
Writer Edward Luce mentioned in his article that thousands of children were killed in the war on Gaza, according to Save the Children. However, Biden’s recent statement calling on the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) to “release the hostages” did not refer to what the Palestinians are suffering.
He added that acknowledging the plight of the Palestinians seems to cast doubt on Biden’s “sincere sympathy for the Israeli victims in the attack launched by Hamas on October 7,” so Washington avoids it, knowing that this upsets many young Americans who will need Biden badly. To their enthusiasm next November, it will also disturb the Arab Americans, who constitute a major voting bloc in many swing states.
The writer explained that progressive Democrats are not the only ones who feel dissatisfied with Biden’s silence regarding what Israel is doing, as many of his most trusted allies in the US Senate are also upset.
Many naysayers
In a meeting in Davos this week, the US Senator from Delaware, Senator Chris Coons, and Biden’s closest friend in politics, said that the United States should consider setting conditions on military aid to Israel.
In a letter to Biden before Christmas, a group of Democrats – some of them former CIA employees – urged the use of influence for “an immediate and significant shift in military strategy and tactics in Gaza.”
The writer stated that White House officials insist that Biden is secretly doing what he can to rein in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but there is little evidence to prove this. Israel has received more than 100 bunker-busting bombs from the United States since October 7, noting that these bombs are intended for destruction and not for “precise targeting of terrorists in urban areas.”
The writer believes that the answer is summed up in Biden’s deep feelings towards Israel. Since his first days in politics, he was one of its strongest allies in the Capitol, and he has always admired the approach of both Israeli Prime Ministers Golda Meir and Yitzhak Rabin, but now he faces a contradictory model represented by Benjamin Netanyahu, and despite this, he continues. In support.
Edward Luce said that Biden was one of the most vocal critics of the efforts of US President George Bush Sr. for the 1992 peace process between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. He also attacked Bush Sr.’s threat to withdraw American loan guarantees if Israel went ahead with building settlements in the occupied territories.
Full support
The pressure exerted by Bush helped overthrow the Likud government in Israel at the time and bring Rabin to power, and this led to the Oslo Peace Accords, explains Edward Luce.
According to the article, Biden – while serving as vice president – had undermined President Barack Obama’s attempt in 2010 to apply similar pressure on Netanyahu’s government, and partly because of Biden’s own reassurances, the Israeli prime minister mocked Obama.
The writer emphasized that Biden could oust Netanyahu by imposing strict conditions on American aid if he wanted to, and in doing so he would gain the respect of the Israelis, the Arab world, and the majority of Jewish Americans. This would also make him regain some of the ground that Washington lost in the global South because of its double standards. A large part of the world believes that America cares more about European victims such as the Ukrainians than it does about civilians in the Middle East or anywhere else.
The writer emphasized that the longer Netanyahu clings to power, the worse it will be for Biden. However, it appears that Biden’s actions were designed to ensure this.
