Washington- After more than a full day On a massacre Rafah Last, It seems that Washington chose to remain silent, as it did Since last Friday, on order international justice Court Israel stops its operations in Rafah.
Joe Biden was busy with the rituals and ceremonies of the annual “Memorial Day” celebration to honor soldiers killed on the battlefields, which falls on the last Monday of May every year. While delivering a speech at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia on Monday, Biden did not mention the Rafah massacre.
At a time when the Israeli air strike on Rafah, which resulted in the death of dozens of displaced Palestinians, sparked widespread international condemnation on Monday and was described as a massacre, Biden remained silent. The White House refrained from criticizing Israel, referring only to the “devastating images” that emerged from the raid and urging Israel to protect civilians as part of its military operations.
attack
And he said Eduardo Maya Silva, LSpokesman National Security Council “Israel has the right to persecute the Islamic Resistance Movement”agitationWe understand that this raid killed two of its top terrorists responsible for attacks against Israeli civilians.”According to him.
He continued, “But as we have been clear, Israel must take all possible precautions to protect civilians. We are actively communicating with the Israeli army and its partners on the ground to assess what happened, and we understand that it is conducting an investigation.”
This prompted international affairs expert Asal Rad to attack Biden’s position, via the X platform, saying, “Biden was quick to express his anger at the International Criminal Court’s desire to issue arrest warrants against Israel’s leaders, but he remained silent while they slaughtered refugees in tents.”
She added, “We saw the charred corpses of children, and Biden did not condemn them, but you say it is the lesser of two evils. What is more evil than genocide?”
In an interview with Tel Aviv Tribune Net, Hussein Abish, senior researcher at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, said that the US President wants to avoid a complete confrontation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, so he is tolerating this change in Israeli policy in response to his red line.
But the question remains, in his opinion, has Israel crossed Biden’s red line? Maybe not, he says. The only person who can determine that is Biden himself, so Abish believes the answer is no, and that they have come very close and are testing Biden’s patience every day.
On the other hand, Israel has enormous political support among many liberal Democrats and even more so among radical fundamentalist evangelicals in the Republican Party. So their political support is very strong and this is an election year, according to the same speaker.
Red line
Researcher Abish believes that the last thing the American president wants is a confrontation with Israel in general, because he believes that working against Netanyahu more quietly or more personally is a completely good alternative.
In contrast to international condemnations, the White House National Security Council acknowledged that Israel’s attack had resulted in the death of two senior leaders responsible for the October 7 attacks against Israel, and said that Tel Aviv “has the right to pursue Hamas, and to defend itself.” “.
In a television interview with MSNBC 3 months ago, Biden seemed to be retreating from his absolute and steadfast support for Israel and its aggression against the Gaza Strip, despite the thousands of civilian casualties and the destruction of the Strip’s infrastructure.
Biden described Israel’s plans to storm Rafah at the time as a “red line” that it should not cross. “It is a red line, but I will never abandon Israel. Its defense is still crucial. So I will not stop supplying them with weapons, until they have Iron Dome to protect them,” he said. He only emphasized “the need for another 30,000 Palestinians not to be killed.”
With Israel ignoring Biden’s red line, his administration was confused as the storming operation began, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated that it “did not have a credible plan.” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan added, “We still believe that it would be a mistake to launch a major military operation in the heart of Rafah.”
The White House changed its position last week when a US official told reporters, “It’s fair to say that the Israelis have updated their plans. They have incorporated many of the concerns we expressed,” adding that “the Rafah process may create opportunities to get the hostage deal back on track.”
embarrassment
Regarding Biden’s silence, researcher Hussein Abish believes that the American president does not know what to say. He knew it was a massacre, perhaps carried out with American weapons, but since Israel “admitted the mistake and actually apologized for it,” it would be embarrassing for him to frankly condemn this terrible massacre as a war crime rather than just a tragic accident.
He added that if Biden said it was just a tragedy, a mistake, or an accident, he would tarnish his reputation among Israel’s opponents, and if he said it was a war crime, he would tarnish his reputation among its supporters. Perhaps it would be better to remain silent, politically and diplomatically, in his opinion.
According to the researcher himself, the US President estimated, most likely and reasonably, that there was nothing useful he could say that would help him personally and politically or the United States diplomatically, “It is a lose-lose situation for the president himself and for Washington. So silence may be the best policy in this situation.” “At least from his point of view.”
For his part, Ambassador David Mack, former Assistant Secretary of State for the Middle East and currently an expert at the Atlantic Council, said, “Israel has already crossed Biden’s red line. These atrocities make matters worse. Nothing Biden says will help.”
In his opinion, Biden must take action, starting with implementing US laws related to military aid and moving to concrete steps to recognize the Palestinian state. Arab partners can help by revitalizing the Palestinian Authority to make it more credible and effective.
The pattern of the American reaction to this massacre shows that the American President rejects any steps or operations that Israel announces in advance its intention to carry out, but as soon as Tel Aviv begins to move, Biden changes his position and supports its move.