By Eric Nagourney and Gaya Gupta
WASHINGTON – A divide between Israel and the United States, its closest ally, burst into the open on Tuesday (12) as President Joe Biden warned that Israeli leaders were losing international support for their war in the Gaza Strip and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected out of hand the American vision for a post-war Middle East.
With civilians in Gaza being killed at a historic rate in the Israel assault, Biden warned in an address in Washington that the international community was turning against the Israeli government.
“They’re starting to lose that support,” Biden said, arguing that Netanyahu needed to make changes to his government, the most far-right in Israel’s history.
Until now, the United States has backed Israel both in action and in rhetoric — supporting the assault on Gaza, fending off calls for a cease-fire at the United Nations and authorizing the sale of thousands of tank shells to the Israelis.
But that staunch backing appeared to soften on Tuesday. Biden’s comments represented the sharpest break to date in the language the United States has used regarding Israel since the war began following Hamas’ devastating attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
Netanyahu, addressing Israelis in a video before Biden spoke, ruled out any role in Gaza for the Palestinian Authority after the war ends. The United States has been pushing that option.
“There is disagreement about ‘the day after Hamas,’” Netanyahu said in a video statement posted on social media, “and I hope that we will reach agreement here, as well.”
“After the great sacrifice of our civilians and our soldiers, I will not allow the entry into Gaza of those who educate for terrorism, support terrorism and finance terrorism,” Netanyahu said. “Gaza will be neither Hamastan nor Fatahstan.” Fatah is the political faction, a rival to Hamas that controls the Palestinian Authority, which was ousted from Gaza in 2007 but still administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Israel began its assault on Gaza after Hamas-led militants launched devastating terrorist attacks on Israel from the enclave on Oct. 7, killing an estimated 1,200 people.
In the air and ground assault that has followed, more than 18,000 Palestinians have been reported killed, and the Israeli government has been facing growing condemnation from around the world over the asymmetry of the death toll.
Until Tuesday, US officials had been the exception, which Netanyahu appeared to be noting in his address.
“I greatly appreciate the American support for destroying Hamas and returning our hostages,” Netanyahu said. “Following an intensive dialogue with President Biden and his team, we received full backing for the ground incursion and blocking the international pressure to stop the war.”
-New York Times
US President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli war cabinet, as he visits Israel amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 18, 2023 – Evelyn Hockstei/Reutersn
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