DThe moral of the Gaza catastrophe was formulated by the American Secretary of State: “If we lose respect for human life,” said Anthony Blinken, “then we run the risk of being confused with those we oppose.” President Joe Biden obviously still has found completely different words when he took Benjamin Netanyahu to his prayers on Thursday.
For months, the Israeli prime minister paid no attention to American concerns and moralizing. But now Biden has resorted to threats. How specific they turned out to be is uncertain. It was publicly announced that the United States would change its Gaza policy – that is, full support of Israel in the fight against Hamas – if the civilian population and humanitarian workers there were not immediately better protected. Within hours, the Israeli war cabinet announced that it would open more crossings for aid deliveries. When that would happen remained unclear at first. Instead, it was announced that the opening of a port and a border crossing that had been closed since the Hamas attack was “temporary.”
A touch of dependency
In this respect, Israel's quick reaction initially means nothing more than this: Netanyahu hopes to gain something from admitting a hint of dependence and thus giving Biden a small sense of success. Whether the phone call really represents a turning point in the Middle East remains to be seen. Because it's not just about humanitarian aid, but above all about Israel's plans for an offensive in the south of the Gaza Strip – and, last but not least, about its negotiating position in the talks about the release of the Israeli hostages, in which Biden's CIA director is now directly involved turns on.
If the White House statement is anything to go by, American-Israeli relations have not been as bad as they are now in decades. The Hamas attack, which will have taken place six months ago on Sunday, was no longer mentioned at all, and Israel's right to self-defense was not mentioned either. On the other hand, the Biden administration approved the delivery of a thousand 500-pound bombs to Israel this week. And the White House rightly reiterated its full support for Israel in view of the acute threat from Iran.
The sworn enemies of the Jewish people are lurking
Netanyahu is one of the most tactically astute players in Israeli and American (domestic) politics. He may not have yet drawn the conclusion from Biden's mixed signals that he must now completely subordinate his personal interests to Israel's long-term national interest. Biden remains caught in a dilemma that goes far beyond his election campaign woes with the Israel and Palestine supporters in his own party.
If he now imposed concrete conditions on Israel, for example for the use of military equipment or even stopped supplying them for the time being, then that would mean a comprehensive, public withdrawal of trust for America's closest partner and the only democracy in the region. This would be a gift to the arch-enemies of the Jewish people and the West, and the consequences would likely be felt well beyond the Biden-Netanyahu era. Netanyahu, of course, understands this danger. But he also knows that Biden understands them.
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