Biden: Netanyahu’s failure harms Israel, Gaza civilians

President Joe Biden recently shared his perspective that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might be causing more harm than benefit to Israel with his current approach to the conflict with Hamas in Gaza. While Biden reaffirmed support for Israel’s right to defend itself following the October 7 attack by Hamas, he voiced concerns over Netanyahu’s handling of civilian casualties resulting from the conflict. These comments were made during an interview with MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart and underscored the growing tensions between the U.S. and Israeli leadership.

Biden has continuously highlighted the risk Israel faces of losing international goodwill due to the increasing number of civilian deaths in Gaza, stating such outcomes conflict with Israel’s values and are significantly detrimental.

In the interview, Biden emphasized his red line regarding a possible Israeli invasion of Rafah, a city in Gaza housing over 1.3 million Palestinians. Despite this, he assured continued support for Israel, including maintaining the supply of defensive systems like the Iron Dome, which protects Israeli civilians from rocket attacks.

Biden expressed his readiness to present his viewpoints directly to the Israeli Knesset and mentioned the possibility of visiting Israel again. His previous visit was shortly after the Hamas attack on October 7.

The president had hoped for a ceasefire before the start of Ramadan but faced challenges due to Hamas’s reluctance to agree to a proposed deal by the U.S. and its allies. This deal involved a temporary ceasefire, the release of additional hostages by Hamas, the release of Palestinian prisoners by Israel, and an increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza. Despite these efforts, Israel is determined to continue its operations against Hamas, attributing to the group the death of approximately 1,200 Israeli soldiers and civilians and the taking of around 250 hostages during the initial attack.

Biden highlighted the tragic loss of over 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, with many more suffering from hunger. He mentioned CIA Director Bill Burns’s efforts in the region to negotiate a deal.

His comments follow a candid exchange caught on a hot mic after the State of the Union address, where Biden told Senator Michael Bennet about needing a “come to Jesus meeting” with Netanyahu. This exchange, prompted by Bennet’s encouragement for Biden to continue addressing humanitarian issues in Gaza, was inadvertently shared due to an open microphone, leading to a light-hearted acknowledgment of the situation by Biden.