Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is undermining the values on which Israel was founded and is harming the country with his handling of the Gaza war, US President Joe Biden charged during an interview he gave to MSNBC on Saturday.
“He [Netanyahu has a right to defend Israel, a right to continue to pursue Hamas, but he must, he must, he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken].
“He is hurting Israel more than helping Israel by making the rest of the world … it is contrary to what Israel stands for, and I think it’s a big mistake,” Biden said.
He spoke amid growing tensions between Israel and the United States over Israel’s conduct of its military campaign to destroy Hamas in Gaza, an operation which it supports in principle, but has otherwise opposed elements of its operation.
The United States has been concerned in particular by the high fatality count, with Hamas asserting that over 31,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war.
Israel has stated that over 11,000 of the fatalities have been combatants.
The US has also argued that Israel has not done enough to contain the humanitarian disaster that accompanied its military campaign, during which it has taken out roads, infrastructure, and the governance system, making it difficult to distribute and in some cases impossible to distribute aid.
Biden caught off the record
During a private comment Biden made on Thursday, which was caught by microphone, he said, that he needs a “come to Jesus meeting” with Netanyahu on the issue of humanitarian aid for Gaza.
When pressed by MSNBC as to what he meant by that comment, Biden said, it was a euphemism for a “serious meeting.”
He added, “I have known Bibi for 50 years and he knew what I meant by it.”
Biden was careful to stress to MSNBC that irrespective of his thoughts on Netanyahu, he supported Israel, particularly concerning defensive weapons.
"I am never going to leave Israel,” Biden emphasized.
“The defense of Israel is still critical, so there is no red line where I am going to cut off all weapons so they do not have the Iron Dome to protect them,” Biden said.
Within that framework there are still red lines Israel should not cross, such as a military operation in Rafah, Biden said. He has stressed in the past that the US would only support such an operation if Israel presented a plan to protect the over 1.3 million Palestinians located in the area of that southern city, many of whom fled there to escape Israeli aerial bombings in the northern part of the enclave.
“You can not have 30,000 more Palestinian dead, as a consequence of going after [Hamas]there are other ways to deal with, to get to Hamas,” Biden said.
He recalled how when he visited Israel in October he had sat with the country’s war cabinet and warned it not to make the same mistakes the US had made when it entered Iraq and Afghanistan in the aftermath of the September 11th attack on the Twin Towers in New York in 2001.
“The first time I went over I sat with the war cabinet, I said, 'do not make the mistake America made,' … we should not have gone into the whole thing in Iraq and Afghanistan, it was not necessary, it was not necessary, it caused more problems than it cured.”
When asked by MSNBC if he would consider a second trip to Israel that would include an address to the Knesset, Biden said, “Yes,” but then added, “I would rather not discuss more.” When pressed again as to the significance of his remarks, he said, “it doesn’t mean anything.”
Biden also spoke of US efforts to increase humanitarian assistance to Gaza.
During his annual State of the Union address to Congress on Thursday night, Biden announced that the US military planned to build a floating pier off of the Gaza coast for cargo ships, given that the enclave lacked a port large enough for such vessels to dock.
Biden told MSNBC that the US was also airdropping supplies over Gaza and was pressuring Israel to open up another crossing into the northern part of the enclave.
“This is a desperate situation, food, medicine [are] … badly needed, and it's needed now,” Biden said.
He spoke with MSNBC in advance of a campaign trip to the swing state of Michigan this week, which has a strong pro-Palestinian population.
Biden pushed back at MSNBC’s description of pro-Palestinian voters as ones who believe that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
“What they said was that they are upset. And I don’t blame them for being upset, there are families there, there are people who are dying, and they want something done about it.
“They are saying Joe do something, do something, but the idea that they will think it is genocide is a different situation. I can fully understand, can’t you, you have a family member or come from a family that is still isolated there and maybe be victimized … and that is why I am doing everything I can to try and stop it,” Biden said.
The situation in Gaza is not comparable to the Allies' military operations in World War II, he said.
“After what happened in World War II, and the carpet bombing that took place, we changed the rules of the game and what constitutes legitimate rules of war and that should be abided by,” Biden said as he appeared to allege that the IDF in Gaza had violated international humanitarian law.
Biden said efforts remained underway for a deal that would free hostages in exchange for a six-week pause to the war and the release of Palestinian security prisoners and terrorists held in Israeli jails.
CIA Director William Burns was in the region “right this minute still talking about it,” he said.
Hamas, he said, “would like a total ceasefire across the board, because then they have a better chance to survive and then rebuild.”
In describing his position, Biden said, “I want to see a ceasefire with a major, major exchange of prisoners, for six weeks. We are going into Ramadan, there should be nothing happening, and we should build off of that ceasefire.”
Biden said that the focus now should be on what comes after the war, which includes a normalization process between Israel and the Arab countries and then moves to rebuild the region.
His words referenced the Saudi deal the US is pushing which would also include a diplomatic path to Palestinian statehood.
“That is the focus, what comes after Gaza, what is next. It’s a tough decision, but here is a lot that can be done,” he said.