ACTIONS MATTER MORE THAN WORDS
Sheline represents a larger shift in US public opinion. Whereas about half of Americans still approved of Israel’s Gazan campaign in November, when the shock of Oct 7 was fresh and the worst of Israel’s bombing yet to come, a majority now disapproves.
As with everything in America, opinions are polarised, with many older people and Republicans still backing the Bibi government to the hilt and younger and left-leaning demographics turning against Israel. But in the electorate as in Congress, the mood is in flux, and not in Israel’s favour.
That turn is even further along within the government. Sheline is the third diplomat to resign over the Israel-Gaza conflict, and one of many who have signed onto cables in the internal dissent channel. Since she quit, many colleagues have shown support. Resistance is also building in other departments, and apparently even inside the White House: First Lady Jill Biden is said to be horrified by the suffering in Gaza and to have urged her husband to “stop it, stop it now.”
Another tragedy, Sheline told me, is that Biden was supposed to be the good guy, and the US the good country. A Biden America, unlike the alternative version peddled by Donald Trump, was meant to stand up for democracy, law and human rights at home as abroad. That claim is looking more hollow by the day, and the US less credible and more hypocritical abroad. The conflict in the Middle East is threatening to take hostage Biden’s entire foreign policy .
Whenever the world calms down to think clearly, it must apportion blame for the immense misery of the past six months. Hamas deserves the most, but Bibi and his right-wing coalition partners are due their share, as are other parties in the Middle East.
By contrast, Biden, I believe, genuinely tried to empathise with all sides and to find a balance between justified Israeli self-defense and humanitarian restraint. But in that attempt he has failed, as Netanyahu repeatedly and brazenly snubbed and ignored him.
UN resolutions and tense phone calls to Bibi are no longer enough. One of Biden’s predecessors, Bill Clinton, allegedly emerged from a meeting with Netanyahu in 1996, venting in frustration: “Who’s the f***ing superpower here?” If Netanyahu now ignores Biden and the Security Council and fails to cease fire, the US must vote to condemn Israel at the UN and immediately halt all shipments of arms.
Source: CNA
