On Thursday President Joe Biden told Benjamin Netanyahu that an immediate ceasefire is needed in Gaza, during a phone call with an Israeli leader.
According to a White House readout summarizing the call, Biden “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.”
Notably, Biden is not calling for a permanent ceasefire in the region.
Biden also told Netanyahu that the administration’s policy towards his government could shift if he doesn’t take concrete steps to protect aid workers. These comments come days after an Israel strike in Deir al-Balah killed 7 employees of the humanitarian organization World Central Kitchen.
Earlier this week, Politico reported that Biden became “privately enraged” over the killings, but the administration’s policy on Gaza has seemingly remained undeterred. On the same day that Biden released statement saying he was “outraged and heartbroken” over the situation, the New York Times published a story detailing how the White House is pushing congress to approve an $18 billion sale of fighter jets for Israel.
The readout makes it clear that policy changes are not imminent and that any such changes “will be determined” by Israel’s future actions.
“If there are no changes in their policy, there will have to be changes in ours,” said White House spokesperson John Kirby after the call.
This sentiment was echoed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “With regard to our policy in Gaza … if we don’t see the changes that we need to see, there’ll be changes in our own policy,” he told reporters.
On social media, some noted that Biden has repeatedly sought changes from Israel but never taken action against the country.
“Every time Netanyahu crosses a line, Biden resets the countdown for consequences,” noted Democratic strategist Waleed Shahid.
“Weird how Biden’s calls with Netanyahu keep getting more tense but somehow never enough to suspend even one weapon sale,” tweeted The Intercept’s Ken Klippenstein.
A source familiar with the call told Axios that it was “tense and challenging.” Netanyahu spokeswoman Tal Heinrich told Fox News that it was a “good call” as far as she understood.
“Washington and Jerusalem, we see eye to eye on the necessity to eliminate Hamas..,” said Heinrich.
US policy might still be lagging behind, but the media is finally getting back on track and ready to put Israel onto the front burner and hold their feet to it while they’re at it.
I normally don’t pay Joe Scarborough much attention, but he launched into a savage full-throated brutal take down on the situation this morning that I haven’t heard in the media since Medhi Hassan was shown the door.
Maybe it had something to do with the fallout from yesterday’s tense and highly contentious interview, but Scarborough took no prisoner and up red-pilled the nation in such a brutal and long overdue way, that I didn’t quite believe what I was hearing, so much so that I had to rewatch the entire segment just to be sure. His laundry list was long and he and his guessed gave zero Fs and pissed all over that third rail for all the world to see.
https://youtu.be/Equ9sCzOhmM?si=nWCHdeRqhuPQTVO4
Of course I’m a realist and fully expect the usual suspects and apologists to have none other than Netanyahu himself wall-to-walk on the Sunday shows to shamelessly spin, victim blame, point fingers, deflect, and outright disparage the US’s own shameful history in the Middle East. Hopefully some of them will finally grow the balls and backbone and push back or outright cut the turd off when he starts monologuing, filibustering, and deflecting.
Perhaps Palestinian leaders and thinkers will see this as a worthwhile time for a diplomatic initiative. Biden may be open to or needing a kickstart.