Washington DC – Solid as a rock. Unshakeable. Unwavering. After months of fervently describing his commitment to Israel, US President Joe Biden changed his rhetoric this month – and issued his strongest criticism of the country since the start of the Gaza war.
At a December 12 fundraiser, Biden warned that Israel was losing international support because of its “indiscriminate bombing” of Palestinian territory.
These two words made headlines. The “divisions” between Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have finally “come to light,” CNN wrote. The Washington Post reported that the two leaders were headed for a “collision.”
But Palestinian rights advocates question the extent to which there is a “divide” — or whether Biden’s words were just a way to appease critics without taking substantive action.
Biden has faced scrutiny for his support of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, which has killed more than 20,000 Palestinians since October 7. And the United States remains one of the last countries in the world to oppose ending the war.
The president’s December 12 statement, however, did not mark a change in policy. Rather, his administration reaffirmed that it would draw “no red lines” to restrict Israel’s actions or what it does with U.S. military aid.
Some supporters therefore argue that the reported disagreements between Biden and Netanyahu are inconsequential as long as the United States continues to support Israel.
“It doesn’t matter whether Biden and Bibi (Netanyahu) like each other or not, because at the end of the day, American money continues to be transferred to finance the Israeli army. Weapons are still being sent with or without congressional approval,” said Laura Albast, a Palestinian-American organizer in the Washington, D.C., area. “Biden did not come out to call for a ceasefire. »
Defenders denounce political “theater”
Albast said the Biden administration is engaging in occasional criticism of Israel to address growing domestic concerns over atrocities in Gaza. She noted that Biden’s popularity in the United States fell during the war, particularly among young people.
A Monmouth University poll this week showed Biden’s approval rating at an all-time high of 34 percent. Among voters under 34, that figure fell to 23 percent.
“They think the average voter in the United States is not a critical thinker, that’s why they’re putting on this theater,” Albast said.
Hours after Biden made his comments about Israel’s “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza, the United States voted against a United Nations General Assembly resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
A few days earlier, Washington had also vetoed a similar measure at the UN Security Council.
Still, U.S. officials have repeatedly said they are raising concerns with their Israeli counterpart about harm to civilians in Gaza.
“It is clear that the conflict will evolve and must move to a lower intensity phase, and we expect and wish to see a shift toward more targeted operations,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters on Wednesday.
But the bombings nevertheless seem to be intensifying despite Washington’s demands. More than 5,000 Palestinians have been killed since fighting resumed on December 1 after a brief truce.
An Israeli airstrike hit an area near the Kuwaiti Rafah hospital in southern Gaza while Tel Aviv Tribune correspondent Hani Mahmoud was live on air. pic.twitter.com/LKszfK4pQK
– Tel Aviv Tribune English (@AJEnglish) December 20, 2023
Amer Zahr, a Palestinian-American comedian and activist, said Biden was trying to avoid responsibility for the carnage in Gaza, even as his administration seeks billions of dollars in additional aid to Israel. He called reports of a feud between Biden and Netanyahu a “distraction.”
“This is an attempt by the Biden administration to distance itself from Netanyahu’s genocidal policies, which it has supported from the beginning,” Zahr told Tel Aviv Tribune.
“Foreign policy clown show”
Adam Shapiro, advocacy director for Israel-Palestine at Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), said the Biden administration has been fully engaged in Israel’s war in Gaza since its earliest days.
But as the “horrific” reality of the Israeli offensive becomes more evident, the Biden administration does not know how to disengage from it, he added.
“It’s a ship with no direction at this point. It’s like a drowning man, in a way, struggling,” Shapiro said. “That’s how I interpret all these random statements that come out of the administration. Meanwhile, the reality remains: Israel does what it wants. The weapons continue to flow.
Since the outbreak of war on October 7, some points of contention have emerged between the Israeli and American governments.
They have, for example, articulated different visions for post-war Gaza. The United States wants the Palestinian Authority to eventually govern the territory, but Israel wants Gaza to remain under its security control.
Disagreements over the future, however, have not shaken Washington’s support for the ongoing war, the scale and intensity of which exposes the Palestinians to the “risk of genocide”, according to UN experts.
US officials, including Biden, have also stressed the need for a two-state solution to the conflict, once again putting them at odds with Netanyahu’s government, which opposes the creation of a Palestinian state.
But on Tuesday, the United States was one of four countries, along with Israel, to vote against a United Nations General Assembly resolution reaffirming the Palestinians’ right to self-determination. The measure was supported by 172 other countries.
For Zahr, the vote is another example of how U.S. policy remains behind Israel, even as Biden’s rhetoric appears to diverge from that of Israeli leaders.
“How can you dare say that you want to be an honest broker, that you want to create “peace” between Palestinians and Israelis when you say you believe in the right to self-determination of one party and not the right to self-determination of ‘a party ? determination of the other? Zahr said. “It’s a foreign policy clown show.”
Shapiro, meanwhile, said the Biden administration was making “unforced errors.” Her stance on the bloodshed in Gaza undermines her credibility and the principles she claims to support on the world stage, he said.
“This administration is so stuck in a pretzel; he does not distinguish the beginning from the end.
