President Biden and other senior U.S. officials are becoming increasingly frustrated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rejection of most of the administration's recent requests related to the war in Gaza, four U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the issue told Axios.
Why it matters: Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack 100 days ago, Biden has given Israel his full backing, with unprecedented military and diplomatic support, even while taking a political hit from part of his base in an election year. That support has largely continued publicly, but behind the scenes, there are growing signs that Biden is losing his patience, the U.S. officials said.
- "The situation sucks and we are stuck. The president's patience is running out," one U.S. official told Axios.
- "At every juncture, Netanyahu has given Biden the finger," Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who has been in close contact with U.S. officials about the war, told Axios. "They are pleading with the Netanyahu coalition, but getting slapped in the face over and over again."
Behind the scenes: Biden hasn't spoken to Netanyahu in the 20 days since a tense Dec. 23 call, which a frustrated Biden ended with the words: "This conversation is over." They had spoken almost every other day in the first two months of the war.
- Before Biden hung up, Netanyahu had rejected his request that Israel release the Palestinian tax revenues it's withholding.
- National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby tried to downplay the decrease in communication, telling reporters on Wednesday that "it doesn't say anything" about the state of the relationship.
- But more and more signs of irritation are emerging. "There is immense frustration," a U.S. official said.
I agree with most of this.
But if they wanted all Palestinians dead, they could do it within a half a day at most.
I haven't looked into every allegation and it certainly seems like some war crimes have been committed by IDF soldiers. That's a very far stretch from a formal policy of genocide, which is incredible because the death tolls and air strikes are decreasing with 99.996% of Palestinian people unharmed.
I was reading about an airstrike on a refugee camp; IDF says there was a tunnel under a market from which a Hamas leader was holed up and that the airstrike killed him and some other top Hamas people; if that's not true, it's a war crime. In another, the IDF struck four mosques at a refugee camp and it says the strikes killed 150 Hamas fighters who holed up in the mosques along with a bunch of civilians that Hamas held there against their will. The ministry in Gaza says there were 400 people killed. Doctors Without Borders says there were 50 civilians killed.
Innocent women and children dying in a war zone does not make it a genocide. A few statements from extremist politicians outside the military chain of command or which do not match the facts on the ground does not make it a genocide.
Calling Palestinians vermin and then trying to kill every Palestinian would be a genocide. That's what genocide means: the intent to kill all of a people. I have yet to hear a coherent argument, just screeching and emotional nonsense.
I'm okay with the military targeting tunnels and Hamas members; those are just and moral targets. It's sad and unfortunate that Hamas hid the tunnel shafts (800 shafts found so far) in hospitals, schools, and apartment buildings, and that it seems like a lot of people didn't evacuate when they should have. And it's unfortunate that Hamas members force their families, those innocent women and children, to accompany them and prevent them from leaving. Why don't they insist that they flea while the soldiers stay to fight, if the want. Seems like Hamas wants their families and neighbors to be martyred for sympathy.
In the wake of October 7, Israel isn't waiting to get these targets alone.