Biden warns Netanyahu that his support for Israel depends on how it protects civilians in Gaza

United States President Joe Biden has warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington's support for Israel will depend on the measures that country takes to protect civilians in the war in Gaza. Both leaders spoke by telephone this Thursday for the first time since the death of seven international aid workers from the organization World Central Kitchen (WCK), founded by the Spanish-American chef José Andrés, in an Israeli attack in the Strip. The conversation lasted less than 30 minutes, according to the White House, and Biden demanded a ceasefire in Gaza from Netanyahu.

Biden made clear “the need for Israel to announce and implement specific, concrete and tangible steps to limit civilian harm and humanitarian suffering, and ensure the safety of aid workers.” Also, that “United States policy toward Gaza will be determined by our evaluation of the immediate steps that Israel takes on these measures,” the White House indicates in a statement. The presidential office does not mention the possibility of imposing conditions on the military aid that the United States provides to Israel, something that the Biden Administration has systematically ruled out since the beginning of the war and despite growing internal frustration with Israel's behavior in the fringe.

The president's warning represents his biggest reproach to Netanyahu of those that have emerged since the beginning of the war and shows the unrest accumulated over recent months due to the obstacles to the entry of humanitarian aid and a violence that has left more than 33,000 Palestinian civilians killed; a malaise that has had its catalyst in the attack against the aid workers. It is the first time that the American president has publicly put on the table the possibility of changing his policy in Gaza, until now one of decisive support for Israel that includes substantial military assistance: the same day of the attack against the workers of WCK, according to CNN, the White House approved a new shipment of more than 2,000 bombs to its ally.

In a subsequent press conference, the spokesman for the National Security Council, John Kirby, pointed out that the measures demanded by the White House must be adopted in a matter of “days and hours” and include a “drastic” increase in the entry of humanitarian aid. in Gaza and a substantial reduction in violence against Palestinian civilians and aid workers.

In the telephone conversation, the US president also addressed the need for an “immediate” ceasefire in Gaza to “stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians,” according to the White House. Biden urged Netanyahu to quickly close a deal that would allow the return of Israeli hostages remaining in the Strip. The two leaders also addressed “Iranian threats against Israel and Israelis,” and the American made it clear that his government “strongly supports Israel in the face of those threats.”

This Thursday's conversation between Biden and Netanyahu was shaping up to be one of the toughest between the two leaders since the war in Gaza began seven months ago. The attack against WCK collaborators had resonated especially in the United States, for various reasons. Among the deceased was an American-Canadian citizen. José Andrés is not only a celebrity; But it has important connections in political circles in Washington: everyone who is anyone in the capital has ever visited one of its restaurants, and the chef is a personal acquaintance of Biden himself, with whom he spoke immediately after the tragedy. The tenant of the White House has declared himself “furious” about the incident, in a harsh statement.

Imposing conditions on military aid

Internal pressure for the White House to make a move is increasing. The calls are no longer coming solely from the Arab American community, or from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. WCK demands an independent investigation into the “systematic” attack against each of the organization's three vehicles that were returning to their base after having moved food to a warehouse in northern Gaza. The NGO has called on the countries of origin of its dead aid workers – the United Kingdom, Poland, Canada, the United States and Australia, as well as a Palestinian – to participate in this process, although Washington has ruled out opening its own investigation. Biden's main ally in the Upper House, Senator Chris Coons, who describes himself as a “friend of Israel”, considered this Tuesday in statements to CNN that the point has been “reached” to impose conditions on military aid from United States to Israel.

And therein lies the crux of the matter. Washington's rhetoric towards Israel is increasingly harsh. But the fundamentals of his policy towards his allied country have not changed until now. On the same Monday, before the attack against international aid workers was unleashed, the Biden Administration authorized the sending of more than 2,000 bombs to Israel, half of them weighing more than 200 kilos, according to the CNN television network. Last week he had already approved the transfer of another two thousand 1,000 kilo bombs, without going through the US Congress.

Meanwhile, the Arab-American community is multiplying its distancing from the Biden Administration: on Tuesday, the Ramadan dinner that the presidential residence wanted to have celebrated became a political meeting, after it became clear that potential guests did not want to participate in a food while talking about the famine in Gaza. Finally, the session was attended by half a dozen guests; A Palestinian American doctor walked out of the meeting, protesting that he was the only Palestinian participant.

From Until there are substantial consequences, anger does nothing. To Bibi [Benjamín Netanyahu] “He doesn't care what the United States says, only what the United States does.”

José Andrés himself highlighted the discrepancy in Biden's policy, in an interview with the Reuters agency. “It is very complicated to understand… The United States will send its Navy and its military to undertake humanitarian tasks, but at the same time the weapons provided by the United States… are killing civilians.”

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