In the early days of the Israel-Hamas war, Joe Biden became the first sitting President to visit Israel during wartime. There, he hugged Netanyahu.
Now, John Kirby, the U.S National Security Spokesperson, has admitted that there is growing frustration on the part of U.S President Joe Biden that his previous messages to Israeli leader, Benjamin Netanyahu had not gotten through.
This came as the White House released a readout of the phone call between Biden and Netanyahu.
Biden has grown increasingly critical of Israel’s approach to the war against Hamas in Gaza, saying that more must be done to protect civilians.
The killing of seven aid workers this week by Israeli forces appeared to bring that to a fore, with Biden saying that he was “outraged” and that Israel has “not done enough to protect civilians.”
That frustration carried over into his call with Netanyahu when Biden tried for the first time to leverage American aid to influence the conduct of the war against Hamas, prompting Israel to commit to letting more food and supplies into Gaza.
Kirby said that the call between the U.S President and Israeli Prime Minister lasted about 30 minutes.
Biden and Netanyahu spoke by phone days after Israeli airstrikes killed seven food aid workers in Gaza and added a new layer of complication in the leaders’ increasingly strained relationship.
Biden told Netanyahu that future U.S. support for Gaza war depends on new steps in Gaza.
This signals a shift in position for the American leader who has faced increased pressure to take a harder line against Israel amid mounting deaths.
“He made clear the need for Israel to 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 House said in a statement following the leaders call.
The White House added that Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are “unacceptable.”
“He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps. He underscored that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians, and he urged the Prime Minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home.”
John Kirby
If Netanyahu declines to take the “specific, concrete and measurable” steps in Gaza to ease civilian suffering and protect aid workers that Biden requested, the U.S President will face a critical choice.
Biden can either decide to allow Netanyahu to prolong his defiance that is creating a huge political risk in his reelection or he can take the step of conditioning the terms of US support for Israel in the war.
If the new US push does not deliver results, tensions between the allies are likely to become even more acute.
World Central Kitchen called for an independent investigation into the Israeli strikes that killed the group’s staff members, including an American citizen but the White House has said the U.S. has no plans to conduct its own investigation.
So far, the Biden administration has ruled out placing conditions on aid and weapon transfers to Israel.
No Elaboration On U.S Policy If Israel Disobeys
At the White House briefing, John Kirby was repeatedly asked what the US policy changes are on the table that would be determined by Washington’s assessment of Israel’s steps to address civilian harm in Gaza.
Kirby said that he was not going to preview any potential policy decisions.
“What we want to see are some real changes on the Israeli side. We don’t see changes from their side,” he stated.
He disclosed that the U.S is looking for “concrete, tangible” steps “in the coming hours and days” that would include a dramatic increase in the humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza, additional crossings opening up and a reduction in the violence against civilians and aid workers.
“We want to see that the Israelis are willing and able to take practical, immediate steps to protect workers on the ground and to demonstrate that they have that civilian harm mitigation in place.”
John Kirby
He said that the U.S will “watch closely” for what steps Israel will take, and that Washington is not looking for just an announcement “but it’s the execution of those announcements and those decisions and implementing them.”
The U.S Secretary of state, Antony Blinken, also held a news conference in Brussels, where he spoke about the recent call between Joe Biden and Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
When asked what aspects of US policy with respect to Gaza could change if Israel does not take immediate concrete steps, Blinken did not expand.
He replied, “If we don’t see the changes that we need to see, there’ll be changes in policy.”
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