It may not be the first time that leaders of the US and Israel are exchanging sharp words over an ongoing situation, but Benjamin Netanyahu has forcefully come back against President Joe Biden calling him flat out wrong in the assessment of the ongoing war in Gaza. Biden had maintained that the Prime Minister’s approach was “hurting Israel more than helping Israel”, adding that Netanyahu “must pay more attention” to the loss of innocent lives as a consequence of actions in Gaza.

In an interview with Politico on Sunday, Netanyahu hit back at Biden saying that the American President was wrong on “both counts”. If President Biden meant “that I’m pursuing private policies against… the wish of the majority of Israelis and that this is hurting the interests of Israel, then he’s wrong on both counts,” the Israeli leader remarked going on to make the point that people in the Jewish state “also support my position that says that we should resoundingly reject the attempt to ram down our throats a Palestinian state”.

Defiant Netanyahu

Tensions between Washington and Tel Aviv were quite apparent over the weekend after Biden made it known that he opposed any escalation of the conflict into Rafah and that he could not accept “30,000 more Palestinians dead”. A defiant Netanyahu stressed that the Israeli forces would move into Rafah and that his “red line” was something different. “We’ll go there (Rafah). We’re not going to leave… I have a red line…that October 7 doesn’t happen again,” Netanyahu said referring to the Hamas terror attack that day that killed nearly 1,200 Israelis.

Health authorities in Gaza are saying that about 32,000 people have died thus far and about 75,000 injured with hundreds of bodies yet to be pulled out of the debris. The fear now is that if Israel gets into Rafah, the casualties will mount on top of an already catastrophic situation. According to Netanyahu, the death toll would include some 13,000 terrorists, just how he arrived that figure has not been explained.

Netanyahu may say “the last thing I want to do is enter the American political arena” when asked if he preferred Donald Trump, but even a political novice would have noticed that the Gaza conflict is already on the agenda of the Democrats and Republicans. Israel continues to enjoy solid support in the US, but President Biden is facing a near revolt among the left wing of the Democratic Party, the Progressives and the much needed support of Independents.

Trump added to Biden’s woes, saying, “You’ve got to finish the problem,” almost openly endorsing the offensives in Gaza against the Hamas. An argument has been made that had it not been for the large protest vote in Michigan and a looming Super Tuesday, the Biden administration would not have embarked on air dropping food packets and plans for the construction of a temporary pier in the Mediterranean to facilitate movement of humanitarian aid.

Still all this may not be enough to move back Democratic voters to support the re-election of President Biden. While some see the administration’s efforts as too little too late, others see it as a farcical exercise in an election year — providing humanitarian assistance on one hand and replenishing the military arsenal of Israel on the other, in an effort to placate both the Arab American and Jewish vote banks.

With the Israeli Prime Minister categorically ruling out a two-state solution and insisting that he would not allow the Palestinian authority to keep its way in the Gaza, the question arises as to what senior Biden administration officials are doing criss-crossing the Middle East other than vague ideas of a ceasefire and hostage deals that have not endured in the past.

Between an envisaged $18 billion in new military funding, hard-line Republicans vowing to deport Arab Americans and denying visas to Palestinians, President Biden would seem to have a full plate in an election year. Add to this the rock bottom approval rating, and the picture is complete.

The writer is a senior journalist who has reported from Washington DC on North America and United Nations

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