DEEPENING RIFT OVER GAZA
Before the UNSC vote on Monday (Mar 25), a deepening rift between Mr Biden and Mr Netanyahu spilled into public view with the US president openly embracing a strongly-worded speech by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer criticising the Israeli government.
Senator Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the US, effectively waded into Israeli domestic politics by portraying Mr Netanyahu as an obstacle to peace, before calling for new polls.
In a US election year, with warnings about foreign interference flying, the remarks were startling. Even more revelatory: The speech was cleared with the White House before delivery, and Mr Biden praised it after.
This added to tensions already brewing from Mr Biden’s hot mic comment after his State of the Union address on Mar 7, in which he was heard saying that he and Mr Netanyahu needed to have a “come to Jesus” meeting about the war in Gaza.
Asked to clarify what he meant in an MSNBC interview two days later, Mr Biden said: “What I meant was, it’s an expression used in the southern part of my state meaning a serious meeting. I’ve known Bibi for 50 years. He knew what I meant by it.”
“What’s happening is he has a right to defend Israel, a right to continue to pursue Hamas, but he must, he must, he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken,” Mr Biden said. “In my view, he’s hurting Israel more than helping Israel by making the rest of the world – it’s contrary to what Israel stands for.”
“I think it’s a big mistake,” the US president added. “I want to see a ceasefire.”
Mr Netanyahu, however, is not backing down. He criticised the US abstention on the Security Council vote, and then cancelled a planned visit by a high-level delegation to Washington to discuss a threatened offensive into Rafah – a meeting requested by Mr Biden.
Despite pressure from around the world, Mr Netanyahu has stuck to his guns and insisted that he will go ahead with the incursion into the southern Gazan city, where more than a million Palestinians have sought refuge.
Source: CNA
