Biden Not Reconsidering ‘Unequivocal’ Support for Israel’s Gaza Slaughter
Privately, President Biden is claiming he's frustrated with Netanyahu but there are no plans for a policy change
by Dave DeCamp
President Biden has no plans to alter his policy of “unequivocal” support for Israel’s slaughter of Gaza despite claiming in private conversations that he’s frustrated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, NBC News reported on Monday.
Sources told NBC that Biden had disparaged Netanyahu in private conversations with other people, including some campaign donors. The sources claimed that Biden said he wanted a ceasefire, but Netanyahu was “giving him hell,” and in at least three instances, Biden referred to the Israeli leader as an “asshole.”
Biden has even said he believes Netanyahu wants the war to drag on so he can remain in power, as polling in Israel shows they want the Israeli leader to step down once the onslaught in Gaza comes to an end. Biden has also said publicly that he believes the Israeli conduct in Gaza has been “over the top,” but the apparent frustration has done nothing to alter the US policy of unconditional military aid and political support.
The NBC report reads: “Yet, even as Biden has escalated his rhetoric, he is not yet prepared to make significant policy changes, officials said. He and his aides continue to believe his approach of unequivocally supporting Israel is the right one.”
Israel has repeatedly rebuffed US comments and concerns about its operations in Gaza since October 7. On Sunday, Biden spoke with Netanyahu by phone and said Israel should only launch an attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah if it has a plan to take into account the safety of the over one million Palestinian civilians packed into the city.
But on Sunday night, Israel unleashed a series of airstrikes on Rafah, killing around 100 people. Israeli bombs targeted two Mosques and 12 residential buildings in the city. There was a ground element as well as Israel said it rescued two Israeli hostages from the city.
Aid groups are warning that a full-scale Israeli assault on Rafah would be a “bloodbath” due to the number of civilians sheltering in tents on the streets of the city, which has a pre-war population of one million. But Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed that Israeli troops will soon be invading the city.