US Vice President Kamala Harris has sidestepped a question about whether Benjamin Netanyahu can be considered a “close ally” of the United States, with critics accusing the Israeli prime minister of thwarting Washington’s stated goal of de-escalation in the Middle East. East.
In an excerpt from an interview with CBS News’ 60 Minutes published Sunday, Harris focused on what the United States is doing to get its main ally to end its military offensive in the Gaza Strip and to stop its attacks against Lebanon.
Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate in November, said the United States was pressuring Israel – as well as Arab leaders in the region – to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza and that ‘they would continue to do it.
“The work we have done has resulted in a number of movements by Israel in this region,” she said, without providing details.
Harris was then asked if the United States had a “real and close ally” in Netanyahu.
“I think, with all due respect, the better question is: Do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people? And the answer to that question is ‘yes,’” she replied.
The exchange highlights the continued refusal of US President Joe Biden’s administration to change course and reduce its staunch support for Netanyahu’s government as the Israeli military bombards the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
During a 60 Minutes election special on Monday, Bill Whitaker asks Vice President Kamala Harris whether the United States lacks influence over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, its American ally. pic.twitter.com/IH6MXMjuCP
– 60 minutes (@60minutes) October 6, 2024
For months, analysts have accused Netanyahu of delaying a possible ceasefire agreement in Gaza for his own political goals.
Observers also warned that Washington’s failure to pressure Israel to end the war in Gaza would push the Middle East toward broader regional conflict – and rights advocates urged the Biden administration to impose an arms embargo on the Israeli government.
Washington provides Israel at least $3.8 billion in military aid a year, and Biden has greenlighted $14 billion in additional aid to the U.S. ally since the start of Israel’s war in the Strip from Gaza in October last year.
To date, more than 41,800 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza.
At least 1,100 people have also been killed in Lebanon since the Israeli army – which had been exchanging fire with the Lebanese group Hezbollah for months across the Israeli-Lebanese border – recently intensified its bombing of the country.
Amid rising violence, the Biden administration has repeatedly said it favors diplomacy and wants de-escalation. But senior U.S. officials also said they supported Israel’s “right to defend itself.”
“Obviously attacks, targeted attacks against civilians, cannot be justified, but Israel has the right to go after terrorists,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, to reporters, asked about deadly Israeli bombings in Lebanon.
“They must take measures to mitigate harm to civilians. They are required to do so under international humanitarian law, in Lebanon as everywhere else,” Miller added.
But critics say such statements have little effect on the actions of Netanyahu’s right-wing government, as the Biden administration has refused to condition U.S. military and diplomatic support for Israel.
“President Biden has spent a year allowing the Israeli government to increase war crimes, violating U.S. laws that require an arms embargo against Israel and ignoring the majority of Americans who oppose sending more weapons to Israel,” said the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). ) said in a statement on Sunday.
“Now the whole region is in chaos. »
The Biden administration’s policies have come under renewed criticism as tensions have escalated in recent days between Israel and Iran.
Last week, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel in what it called an act of retaliation for killings in Lebanon and Gaza, as well as assassinations senior leaders of Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran.
Netanyahu said Iran would “pay” for the attack, raising fears that Israel could strike strategic sites in the country, such as Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Asked by reporters last Wednesday whether he would support an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites, Biden responded that “the answer is ‘no’.”
The US president told reporters that any Israeli response would have to be “proportional”, without specifying what exactly that means.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will receive his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant in Washington on October 9 to “discuss ongoing security developments in the Middle East,” a Pentagon spokesperson said on Sunday.
.@SecDef will welcome Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to the Pentagon on October 9 for an official visit to discuss ongoing security developments in the Middle East and looks forward to welcoming the Minister back to Washington DC.
– Major General Patrick Ryder (@PentagonPresSec) October 6, 2024
