Biden’s not changing Israel policy after deadly strike on aid workers
Some of his senior officials think it’s “a blatantly horrific and stupid mistake.”
The Biden administration has no plans to change its policy toward Israel after the ally’s forces killed seven humanitarian aid workers.
President Joe Biden was privately enraged by the deadly strike and in a public statement upbraided Israel for it, calling for “accountability” to those responsible and demanding more humanitarian assistance be allowed into Gaza. But two senior administration officials said that is as far as he and the White House will go for now.
“That’s all we have planned,” said one of the officials, who like others was granted anonymity to speak candidly about administration planning or internal reactions.
It’s the latest example of the United States criticizing Israel’s conduct of the war against Hamas while remaining reluctant to use its leverage to force a change. Biden has stood with Israel as it aims for the military defeat of Hamas, resisting calls from progressives and pro-Palestinian voices to condition military aid or impose other restrictions. Such moves would break, rather than bend, the relationship with Israel, the administration argues. And they would end any sway the U.S. has with Israel over protecting civilians.
That has caused fissures within the Biden administration. “It’s just rinse and repeat with the Israelis. The American political system can’t or won’t draw a real line with them and that is regrettable,” said a senior U.S. official.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby confirmed Wednesday the U.S. is planning no imminent shift in its Israel approach. “We are still supporting their right to defend themselves and we’re going to continue to do that. We’re also going to see what the result of the investigation is,” he said on a call with reporters after prompting by POLITICO, adding “I’m not going to get ahead of decisions that haven’t been made yet.”
Senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have apologized for dropping bombs Monday night on the World Central Kitchen convoy. Its three vehicles were clearly marked with WCK’s insignia and traveled along a protected route in central Gaza. And yet Israeli forces still hit the aid workers multiple times despite having been informed of the convoy’s movements. The group has temporarily halted food deliveries after the strike.
In his statement Tuesday night, Biden was stern. “Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians.” He added: “Incidents like yesterday’s simply should not happen. Israel has also not done enough to protect civilians.”
A second senior administration official expanded on Biden’s message: “The strike on humanitarian aid — at a time when Israel had recently agreed to do more to get aid into northern Gaza — is deeply problematic.”
A preliminary Israeli investigation into the attack indicated that forces wrongfully identified the convoy as hostile targets. “I want to be very clear: the strike was not carried out with the intention of harming WCK aid workers,” Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, chief of the general staff of Israel’s military, said Tuesday in a video message. “It was a mistake that followed a misidentification at night during a war in very complex conditions. It shouldn’t have happened.”
Kirby told reporters Tuesday there was “no evidence” Israel intended to kill the aid workers on purpose.
Biden was “angry” when he was briefed on the errant attack, said the senior administration official, adding that the Tuesday statement “reflects his consternation over this.” The official said Biden insisted that Israel make the results of its investigation into the incident public. The president also privately derided Israel for “not listening” to American guidance and warnings, a third senior administration official said.
The convoy belonged to a group led by José Andrés, the celebrity chef with many popular restaurants in Washington and with close ties to the Biden White House. World Central Kitchen constructed a makeshift jetty to deliver aid for Gaza, making the organization vital for the enclave’s 2.2 million Palestinians to receive food, water and other necessities. Biden called Andrés to offer his sympathies.
Around 200 aid workers have been killed since the war began last year, but the reaction to this incident was much larger since many in Washington — including in the Biden administration — are close to Andrés and have dined in his many restaurants around the capital.
Many officials throughout the administration were already upset by the growing number of killed civilians and aid workers, but “this hits in a different way,” said a U.S. official, who was granted anonymity to detail an internal reaction. “Everyone loves José and World Central Kitchen and it just seems like a blatantly horrific and stupid mistake to do that.”
Concerns remain about worsening conditions inside Gaza. Officials from the U.S. Agency for International Development warned in a private cable that the enclave was already experiencing famine due to the war and a lack of assistance.
The level of hunger is “unprecedented in modern history,” reads the cable, per a HuffPost report, and it will “accelerate in the weeks ahead.”
Matt Berg and Jonathan Lemire contributed to this report.