The US begins to withdraw support for Israel for “indiscriminate bombings” in Palestine

2023-12-15 19:07:56

The United States has no intention of questioning its support for Israel, but is increasingly exasperated by the way the war in Gaza has been carried out, to the point of publicly demonstrating its disagreements with the conservative government of Benjamin Netanyahu.

Speaking of “indiscriminate bombing” and the possible “erosion” of international support for Israel, US President Joe Biden laid out his growing frustration with the Israeli prime minister, and his administration is even starting to talk about a “timetable.” for ongoing high-intensity military operations.

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Warnings have been mounting for weeks, with top US officials such as Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying the number of Palestinian civilians killed is “too high” and that there is a “gap” between Israel’s commitments and the reality on the ground.

The Gaza Strip has been bombed daily since the conflict broke out on October 7, except for a brief humanitarian truce in late November.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently summarized the emerging dilemma: “In this type of fight the center of gravity is the civilian population. And if you push it into the arms of the enemy, you replace a tactical victory with a strategic defeat.”

But the US, Israel’s main diplomatic and military ally, has avoided directly and publicly criticizing it, also rejecting calls for a ceasefire until Hamas is out of combat, despite international pressure.

Indeed, the US position seems a bit isolated, as evidenced by the UN General Assembly’s overwhelming vote on Tuesday for such a ceasefire.

In context: Biden says that the Israeli government “loses support” for its offensive in Gaza

“Calendar”

Since the beginning of the conflict, caused by the massacre of the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil, the United States has tried to influence its ally both to unblock humanitarian aid for the Gazans and to free the hostages kidnapped by Hamas on the day of the attack. , or even to prompt Israel to adopt a more “specific” military strategy.

Privately, American diplomats make no secret of their dissatisfaction with the course of the war.

Washington, for example, urged Israel not to “repeat” the scenario in the southern Gaza Strip before the seven-day humanitarian break at the end of November.

In a sign of continued pressure on Israel, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan will visit Israel on Thursday and Friday, the US executive said.

“It is clear that I am going to address … the question of the calendar and how they (the Israelis) see it,” he told the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, suggesting a change “to a different phase of the type of operations of high intensity that we see today.”

And Biden received for the first time at the White House on Wednesday families of American hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas, according to a senior official.

Also: How do Gaza women experience menstruation in times of war?

Inflection point?

Does this mean a turning point in American positioning?

For James Ryan, Middle East program director at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, “it has a lot to do with the internal political situation,” as the Democratic president campaigns for re-election in November 2024.

“There is great pressure on the Biden administration, even within his party and among the base,” explains Ryan.

But, he adds, “it also reflects the tacit recognition” that the United States’ ability to influence the Israeli government, the most right-wing in the country’s history, is limited.

It is precisely over what will happen once the conflict is over that the divergences between the Democratic administration and the Israeli government become more evident, which points to difficult negotiations.

Washington insists on the two-state solution, the only one capable of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian issue in the long term, which Israel rejects.

Also read: UN estimates that 130 of its officials have died in Gaza in the midst of the war between Israel and Hamas

Regarding post-conflict governance in Gaza, the United States and Israel also oppose handing the reins of the conflict to a revitalized Palestinian Authority.

“We believe that the Palestinian Authority is the representative of the Palestinian people and that a revitalized, reformed and renewed Palestinian Authority is the appropriate path for the governance of a reunified West Bank and Gaza,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Wednesday.