The administration of President Joe
Biden has begun to publicly air its differences with the Israeli Government
over its attack in Gaza, expressing its exasperation even as it remains largely
steady in its support.
Biden referred this week to “indiscriminate
bombing” in Gaza, underscoring his frustration with conservative Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose government Biden agrees is starting to lose international
support.
The Democratic US administration is even
beginning to talk about a “timetable” for how long Israel’s high-intensity
military operations can continue.
Warnings have multiplied in recent
weeks, with senior US officials such as Vice President Kamala Harris and
Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaking of the “far too high” number of
Palestinian civilians killed, and the gap between commitments made by Israel to
respect civilian lives and the reality on the ground.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently
warned Israel of what is at stake, “In this kind of a fight, the center of
gravity is the civilian population. And if you drive them into the arms of the
enemy, you replace a tactical victory with a strategic defeat.”
But Washington, Israel’s main diplomatic
and military ally, has been careful not to openly criticize its ally, and has
resisted calls for a ceasefire, which it said would benefit Hamas, despite
international pressure.
Indeed, the United States appears
increasingly isolated in its support, as evidenced by Tuesday’s vote in the UN
General Assembly calling for such a ceasefire, passed by 153 member states,
with only the US and nine other states voting against and 23 abstaining.
If there is a shift in the US position
toward Israel, it may reflect the domestic political situation as well.
“There is a lot of pressure on the Biden
administration among his own party and constituency” on policy toward Israel,
said James Ryan, director of the Middle East program at the Foreign Policy
Research Institute, a nonprofit think tank.
But any shift also signals “a tacit
admission” of limited US ability to influence the Israeli Government, he added.
Differences also loom over views on what
happens after the war ends.
Washington insists on a two-state
solution as the only way to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian question in the
long term, which Israel rejects.
AFP
