Netanyahu and Biden Try to Dial Down Tensions Over Gaza
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-03-19/netanyahu-and-biden-try-to-dial-down-tensions-over-the-war-in-gaza?cmpid=BBD031924_politicsJoe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu are trying to put a stop to the damage the war in Gaza is causing to US-Israeli relations.
The two leaders spoke for the first time in more than a month yesterday. The rising death toll among Palestinians and the dire humanitarian situation — a United Nations-backed report says a potential famine looms over northern Gaza — has strained ties between Israel and its closest ally.
The rancor culminated in Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish member of the US Congress, saying Israel should hold early elections and that Netanyahu’s coalition was no longer fit to rule the country. Biden, a fellow democrat, called it a “good speech,” while Netanyahu said it was “totally inappropriate.”
Biden, under pressure from many voters ahead of November’s election to make Israel stop fighting, got a concession on the call: Netanyahu agreed to send officials to the US to talk about Israel’s planned ground assault on the city of Rafah.
But it may be only a minor win for the president. There’s no guarantee Netanyahu will be persuaded against sending forces into Rafah, a move he insists is necessary because it’s the last bastion of Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by Washington and others.
Netanyahu leads the most right-wing government in Israel’s history and he’s under plenty of pressure not to cave in to any demands.
He and his ministers are also loath to accept calls from the US, European and Arab states for Israel to make steps toward a two-state solution with the Palestinians.
There’s little sign Israel is ready to improve ties with the Palestinians following Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack. That’s evident from its refusal to allow back in the roughly 150,000 people from the West Bank who used to work in Israel, the majority of them on building sites.
Nearly six months into this crisis, everyone appears stuck. —Paul Wallace