President Biden and Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke in a 45-minute phone call Thursday. During that call, Biden called for an immediate ceasefire.
There is a change afoot in U.S. policy by this administration and it is not looking good. Biden and his administration are supporting this war as an election-year exercise, not as serious players involved in supporting Israel in a war. Biden runs the risk of changing not just policy but the relationship between Israel and America.
We've seen the change slowly happening. Biden is under pressure from the far-left of his party. The antisemitism is out in the open and it is alarming.
The deaths of seven aid workers on the staff of World Central Kitchen (WCK) have brought a new level of criticism of Israel and how the war is waged. Up until now, Biden has been hesitant to call for an immediate ceasefire and focused on his criticism of Netanyahu. After Monday's report of the deaths of the WCK staffers during an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, all bets are off. Reports are that Biden is outraged over the situation. Some Democrats in Congress are also criticizing Netanyahu while calling on Biden to take a tougher stance against Israel.
The question is whether or not Biden will change U.S. policy on Israel.
Biden has condemned the strikes on World Central Kitchen, a Washington-based charity, and urged Israel to complete its probe quickly. The president has repeatedly criticized Israel as not doing enough to ensure the safety of civilians in Gaza, including humanitarian workers who are providing lifesaving aid to the local population. He has also warned Netanyahu against an offensive in Rafah without a credible plan to keep the civilian population safe, which U.S. officials say Israel hasn’t presented.
The World Central Kitchen strikes have also intensified calls from congressional critics for Biden to take a tougher line with Netanyahu. Some Democrats have demanded that Israel do more to protect civilians and insisted that the White House back more conditions on aid, a stance that could complicate passage in the House of a $95 billion aid bill that includes funding for Israel as well as Ukraine and Taiwan. About 20 Democrats are expected to oppose the House bill because of their concerns about the war, House Democratic aides predict.
Most lawmakers have signaled no public shift in their broad support of Israel in recent days, but there were signs that could change in coming weeks. Sen. Chris Coons (D., Del.) said Thursday that if Netanyahu were to launch a full-scale invasion of Rafah with no humanitarian provisions, he would vote to put conditions on aid to Israel. But that remains a minority position, even among Democrats critical of Netanyahu.
Remember that Senator Coons is Biden's campaign national co-chair. When he speaks, you can rest assured it is what Team Biden wants him to say. Now there are rumblings that if Israel doesn't change its way forward - particularly in its anticipated war in Rafah - then American support will be conditioned against Israel.
In Brussels today, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, "If we don't see changes, there will be changes in our policy." Sounds pretty clear to me.
Netanyahu apologized for the results of the air strike. He pledged there would be an investigation. The investigation seems to be complete and is being analyzed.
The findings of an Israeli investigation into the strikes on World Central Kitchen employees in Gaza were presented to the military’s chief of staff on Thursday and are currently being presented to the minister of defense and the prime minister, according to Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.
“I believe that after we show it to the ambassadors from the relevant countries and to the people of the WCK we will publish it clearly and transparently to the public and this will happen soon,” Hagari said in a statement on Thursday.
Hagari called the aid group “a devoted organization that came to do good, came to bring food to those who need it in Gaza.”
Joe Biden lacks the moral clarity to support Israel as it fights for its survival. After the massacres on October 7, 2023, Biden said his support of Israel was 'rock solid and unwavering.' The cowing of Biden in an election year has been unmistakable. He is now more concerned about the votes of Muslim Arab Americans in Michigan and other places than he is in supporting a loyal American ally.
The White House has been shaken by the WCK attack, as have many Americans. No one wants to see the deaths of humanitarian workers. There would be no need for humanitarian aid, or little need, if Hamas would allow the distribution of the goods being trucked into Gaza. A spokeswoman for Netanyahu said today that more food trucks are coming into Gaza now than before the war began.
Chef Andres, founder of WCK, calls for an independent international investigation into the deaths of his staff. He calls the air strike a deliberate attack on his trucks. This is as disgusting as it is absurd.
There are still 134 hostages in Gaza from the massacres of October 7. It's a shame that Biden has no sense of urgency about helping secure their release, even the American citizens in that group. The Biden doctrine allows Americans to be left behind around the world. It began with the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan that Biden insisted on conducting despite the best advice offered by top military officials and advisers. Joe Biden always thinks he is the smartest person in the room. He is dangerously deluded.
We will see if there is a policy change coming. Will Biden cut off arming Israel and honoring any requests it may make? Netanyahu is reported to have told Biden that the IDF will kill anyone who kills Israelis. That is exactly the determination that is needed for the survival of Israel and the Jews and others living there.
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