Joe Biden Tells Netanayhu U.S. Support Hinges On Protecting Civilians
(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that US support for his war in Gaza would depend on new steps to protect civilians, a shift in position for the US leader who has faced mounting pressure to take a harder line against Israel amid mounting deaths.
Biden in a Thursday phone call with Netanyahu said an Israeli strike that killed seven people delivering food to displaced Palestinians in Gaza was “unacceptable,” according to a White House description of the conversation. The incident further heightened tensions between the two leaders and prompted Democrats to issue fresh calls for placing conditions on American military backing for Israel.
The US president said Israel must “announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers,” the White Hoiuse said in a statement.
“He made clear that US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel's immediate action on these steps,” the statement said. “President Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable.”
Biden did not specify when and how he might shift his approach to the Israel-Hamas war, which is in its sixth month. But his statement is the closest he has come to placing new requirements on US support for Israel's military operations.
The US for weeks has urged Netanyahu to curb civilian deaths and has objected to a plan to invade the southern enclave of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinian fled during Israel's war with Hamas. But the air strike on a convoy of workers from World Central Kitchen, a disaster relief group founded by celebrity chef José Andrés, has appeared to mark a breaking point for the White House.
Israel has said the strike inadvertently hit the aid workers and is conducting an investigation to determine how the strike occurred.
The president is facing mounting political pressure from progressives, as well as Arab- and Muslim-Americans, who object to his support for Israel's war effort.
Read More: Gaza, Iran Strikes Show Limits of Biden's Influence on Israel
Israel's conduct of its war against Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the US and European Union, has also drawn criticism from Republican Donald Trump, who vocally supported Netanyahu during his presidency.
Trump in a Thursday interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt said Israel has to finish the war quickly and that it is “losing the PR war,” while declining to answer whether he still remains 100% behind Israel.
“You've got to get it over with, and you have to get back to normalcy. And I'm not sure that I'm loving the way they're doing it, because you've got to have victory,” he said. “They shouldn't be releasing tapes like that. They're doing, that's why they're losing the PR war.”
--With assistance from Hadriana Lowenkron.
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