The relationship between the two allies, US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is not good. Disagreements between the two men rage against the backdrop of the Gaza war, despite American political and military support for Israel since the beginning of the war.
The points of contention range from the American insistence on the necessity of protecting civilians to the post-war scenario and the two-state solution, all the way to the dispute over the Israeli operation in Rafah.
The American newspaper The Washington Post, citing informed sources, reported that President Joe Biden and his senior aides are closer to breaking with Netanyahu than at any time since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, indicating that they no longer view him as a partner who can be influenced.
The Washington Post explained that Biden’s frustration with Netanyahu, which has been building for months, was clearly evident last Thursday, when he said that the Israeli military campaign in Gaza had “exceeded the limit,” considering that this statement was “the harshest rebuke yet.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly commented on the US President’s statements, saying that he appreciated Biden’s support for Israel since the beginning of the war, but he did not know exactly what he meant by that, in an interview with ABC News.
Netanyahu’s failure to comply with American calls angered American officials on several occasions, according to officials, as he publicly denounced the detainees deal, while US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was in the region trying to mediate an agreement.
According to the ABC News website, which quoted informed sources, President Biden said that Netanyahu wants the war to continue so that he can remain in power, while the American website revealed that the American president has come to believe that supporting Israel unequivocally is the correct policy. .
In the midst of all these tensions between the two allies, analysts believe that the Israeli Prime Minister began to address American public opinion directly, through interviews with several American media outlets, to explain his war plans and viewpoints, most of which received continuous rejection from the White House.
The White House currently rejects calls to withhold military aid to Israel or impose conditions on it, and many make clear that even a sharp shift in American rhetoric will have little impact unless the United States begins to impose conditions on its support for Israel.
Has the relationship reached the point of estrangement?
In an interview with the Sky News Arabia newsroom, Dr. Aqeel Abbas, expert in American affairs, points out the tense relationship between Netanyahu and Biden due to the difference and contradiction in positions regarding the war on Gaza.
- The United States has many pressure tools that it can use against the Israeli government.
- The United States’ anger is not against Israel as a state, but rather against the far-right government.
- Tension between the United States and Israel began before the war on Gaza and worsened after it.
- The United States’ rejection of the judicial reforms that the Netanyahu government intended to implement, which the United States considers a threat to democracy in Israel, in addition to its position on settlement expansion in the West Bank.
- The change in American positions on Israeli practices is partly related to the American elections.
- There is a global and American change in attitudes towards Israel due to Israeli practices in its war on Gaza.
- There is broad international sympathy for the Palestinians as an occupied people.
- Although what Hamas did was classified according to international legal classification as heinous and inhumane, the Israeli response was broader and more horrific.
- The war in Gaza and Israeli practices revived the Palestinian cause.
- Israel contributed to the larger problem by rejecting a peaceful solution since the 1990s and within the framework of finding a two-state solution.
- Netanyahu is behaving more cautiously today than he did during the tense period of his relationship with Barack Obama.
- The United States has not stopped supporting Israel’s national security.
- There is a change in American policy towards Netanyahu’s policy and its support for the two-state solution.
How does this tension affect the course of the war?
For his part, the Israeli writer and political researcher, Eli Nissan, pointed out the importance of distinguishing between the right-wing government, which demands that Netanyahu not respond continuously to American demands, and Netanyahu’s positions.
• Netanyahu has always agreed to what the American administration demands of him on many matters.
• The Saudi and Palestinian statements being circulated are completely far from being implemented on the ground.
• There is pressure exerted on the United States by some Arab countries.
• The United States is keen to preserve its interests in the Middle East.
• The presence of internal pressure from members of the US Congress and a minority of Palestinians in the United States.
• Biden is under more pressure as the election date approaches.
• The need for Israel to complete its operations to eliminate the military power of Hamas.
• There is coordination between the United States and Israel before carrying out any military operation in Rafah.
• The differences between Netanyahu and Obama were over allowing Iran to possess nuclear power.
• Despite the differences in positions, there are strategic relations that cannot be overlooked between Israel and the United States.
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2024-02-13 06:43:45
