Washington- The political elite in Washington is becoming increasingly certain, in the absence of any American interest in maintaining the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, at the same pace that has continued since the seventh of last October.
Public disagreements surfaced between US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the method of managing the war on Gaza, and the future of the Strip after the fighting stopped. These disagreements did not reach the point of stopping or changing the nature of American support for Tel Aviv.
Reports indicate a new dimension behind the emergence and movement of these differences between the two sides, which is Netanyahu’s desire to be re-elected in the elections expected to be held immediately after the aggression on Gaza stops.
An unattainable goal
Biden rejects the call for a ceasefire because he signed Netanyahu’s main military goal of completely destroying the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), even though this goal, militarily, is unattainable.
With Biden’s consistent support for Tel Aviv so far, he is under increasing pressure, including from within his own Democratic Party, to rein in the Israeli aggression against Gaza. Biden also fears the expansion of the war and the risk of the United States being drawn into it, or the enormous damage that his support for the war will cause to America’s standing and global leadership.
Biden said – last week – that Israel had begun to lose global support because of what he described as its indiscriminate bombing of Gaza, but he reiterated that Tel Aviv could rely on American support and stressed that he supported “its right to defend itself.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also confirmed – during his visit to Israel a few days ago – Washington’s desire to “move from high-intensity operations to less-intensive and more invasive surgeries.”
Israel ignored the American request, despite Austin indicating that he had held discussions with Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, about what he called how to limit civilian casualties and collateral damage while the operation continued.
Democratic members of the House of Representatives – with security and military backgrounds – sent a letter to the president stressing that the military strategy of the Netanyahu government is neither in the interest of the United States nor in the interest of Israel’s security.
“We are deeply concerned by Netanyahu’s current military strategy in Gaza,” the letter said. “The growing civilian death toll and humanitarian crisis are unacceptable and inconsistent with American interests. Nor does it advance the security case for our ally Israel. We also believe it jeopardizes efforts to destroy the Hamas terrorist organization.” and to secure the release of all hostages.”
Imposing conditions
The Democratic representatives’ letter was signed by 6 legislators who previously worked in the CIA and the US Armed Forces.
The representatives added through their letter, “From our positions in the Intelligence, Armed Services, and Foreign Affairs committees, we have constantly pushed Israel to change its military strategy, and there has been no significant change.” They concluded by saying, “We urge you to continue using all our influence to achieve an immediate and major shift in military strategy and tactics in Gaza.”
The letter also comes at a time when a growing number of Democratic senators, led by Senator Bernie Sanders, are expressing their concern and seeking to impose some conditions on providing aid to Israel.
The pillars of the US administration, led by President Biden, and the Democratic leaders of both houses of Congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate, agree to support the two goals of the Israeli Prime Minister’s government announced since the seventh of last October, which are “to destroy the Hamas movement” so that it is not able to repeat its attacks, and to return the detainees. The rest of her.
Washington also supports several other Israeli goals, such as re-establishing deterrence against Tel Aviv’s enemies, and reassuring Israelis that their country is still capable of protecting them.
However, recently published reports indicate that a third main goal of the Netanyahu government has begun to emerge on the surface of the heated and unashamedly accelerating events, which is “his re-election as prime minister.”
This goal began to emerge after Biden a week ago repeated his call to support the idea of the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the occupied West Bank, controlling the Gaza Strip after the end of the aggression against the Strip.
Blame and worry
Netanyahu rejected Biden’s call and said, “Gaza will neither be Hamastan nor Fatehistan,” referring to the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah), the largest Palestinian faction, which played a key role in signing the Oslo Accords and still controls the Palestinian Authority.
The next day, Tzipi Hotovely, Israel’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, when asked whether Israel supports the two-state solution, replied, “The answer is not at all,” which contradicts what Biden and senior officials in his administration have been repeating.
Recent opinion polls indicate that approximately 70% of Israelis want to see new elections held as soon as the war with Hamas ends, at a time when the majority of Israelis blame Netanyahu for the unprecedented intelligence and military failure that occurred.
What is even more worrying for Netanyahu is that many polls also show that 31% of Likud voters say they will vote for a different party in the upcoming elections.
On the other hand, despite the support of the White House, Biden repeatedly insisted that the Palestinian Authority should govern Gaza after “eliminating Hamas” and that a Palestinian state should be established alongside the State of Israel, while Netanyahu rejects these principles with increasingly strong public statements.
American commentators believe that Netanyahu is trying in every way to present himself as the protector of Israel’s security interests, even if he goes so far as to continue the war against Hamas in the same absurd way that has been continuing since October 7, which no longer attracts American praise, and brings him closer to entering into a loud public dispute with Biden.