By Janet Ekstract ISTANBUL- Though the Biden administration made it clear to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu that his government must protect civilians in Gaza and make sure aid gets into Gaza – the reprimand has been mostly ignored. With a U.S. presidential election looming in just six months, U.S. President Joe Biden is definitely caught between a rock and a hard place because several officials in the U.S. State Department, very publicly resigned over the way they said the U.S. has handled Gaza. It’s also apropos to note that when you have the U.S. State Department spokesperson and White House National Security Council Adviser defending the U.S. position on Israel’s actions in Gaza, that’s a recipe for disaster. Polls indicate that a majority of young voters in the U.S. are against Biden’s Israel policy as well as continuing to supply Israel with arms while Gazans suffer starvation, malnutrition, countless maiming and death at the hands of Israel’s military. Two major sticking points are the fact that no new concrete hostage deal or ceasefire has come about despite ongoing talks. It doesn’t help Biden’s chances at the polls in November when he has U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller and White House National Security Council Adviser John Kirby echoing the same refrain on Israel as Miller remarked April 9: “We have not found them to be in violation, either when it comes to the conduct of the war or the provision of humanitarian assistance. We view those assurances through that ongoing work we have done.” Last week, at a press briefing, Kirby somewhat angrily defended the U.S. position that “Israel has not violated international humanitarian law.” But Biden was clearly angered by Israel’s recent attack on a U.S. aid convoy where seven aid workers were killed and Vice-President Kamala Harris commented that the U.S. might have to reconsider Israel-U.S. policy if Netanyahu did not make immediate changes.
It’s clear that America’s Muslim community feels shunted aside by the Biden administration as Dearborn, Michigan’s Palestinian-American Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said in a recent interview with Democracy Now: “Lives of Palestinians should not be measured simply in poll numbers.” Hammoud added: “We want dialogue with senior decisionmakers and policymakers who have the ability to open this and to change course on what’s happening overseas.” He also said that a ceasefire in Gaza is supported by over 60% of Americans and that instead of “lip service” there needs to be “action.” While the Biden administration continues its defense of Israel’s military actions in Gaza, the entire world is watching closely what America does. Currently, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, (CAIR) – the largest Muslim civil advocacy group in the U.S. – in a statement on April 9, condemned U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin for repeating the White House refrain that there’s “no evidence” Israel committed genocide in Gaza. As CAIR stated on X: “We strongly condemn @SecDef Austin for his dishonest and delusional genocide denial, which ignores the fact that the Israeli govt made openly genocidal threats at the start of the war and has spent six months acting on those threats by sparking a famine, destroying civilian infrastructure, ethnically cleansing entire cities & massacring 33,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.”
It’s clear as observers and analysts have said, that the Biden administration is well aware of Israel’s violations but chooses to look the other way because not to do so, would interfere with U.S. long-term plans that include détente between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
That begs the question: Where does that leave the two-state solution that the Biden administration very clearly stated it supports and is “working toward.” The Times of Israel (TOI) reported in January 2024 that Israel’s two senior far-right partners endorsed rebuilding Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and promoting “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians. On April 11, The New Arab online newspaper reported that a far-right Knesset member Limor Son Har-Melech told Knesset’s TV channel that “secret” Israeli plans are underway for Jewish settlements in Gaza. Har-Melech is from the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party that introduced a bill promoting the death penalty for Palestinians. What does that say about any U.S. role in promoting a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine when Netanyahu has made it clear that he has no such intentions. Top U.S. officials surely know what Israel’s far-right is up to but they still insist the only way is a two-state solution without addressing the ‘secret’ plans of Israel’s far right. Mass protests in Israel are calling for Netanyahu to resign immediately which he ignores with good reason on his part because if Netanyahu agrees to a two-state solution, analysts say he will be kicked out of office. Meanwhile, the international community has been calling for a two-state solution along with the U.S., for decades but actions by Israel’s far-right appear to threaten such a possibility. The White House could find itself very late to the game since Israel’s far-right extremists have already parceled off land for their luxury condos but not one top U.S. official has taken action to address this flagrant violation of international law that Netanyahu’s government has consistently carried out for decades. U.S. officials said publicly that any illegal settlements are in violation of international law but Netanyahu repeatedly ignores them because he can always count on U.S. support.
The more the Biden administration continues to defend Israel, the more they distance themselves from voters who really matter in November’s election. It’s understandable that any U.S. administration wants to appease the Jewish lobby but at what expense? The question to ask is whether it’s worth it for Biden to ignore the outcry from the Muslim community and young American voters in favor of said lobby – especially after the killing of those seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen (WCK). After the attack, WCK founder Jose Andres told the press that Israel intentionally targeted WCK’s three-vehicle convoy that he said was clearly marked and whose coordinates were known to the Israeli military. Even 36 democrats in a letter to Biden supported by former house speaker Nancy Pelosi, reiterated that Israel must face consequences for its actions in Gaza. Ultimately, they propose no further arms deals to Israel until a hostage-ceasefire deal is concluded. In a ruling from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) known as the World Court – the ICJ ruling stated that it’s ‘plausible’ Israel committed genocide in Gaza, ordering Israel’s military to ensure it takes no actions that violate the Genocide Convention but without calling for a ceasefire.
It’s clear that Biden doesn’t want to be seen as the ‘bad guy’ in withholding military aid to Israel because an outcry from the Jewish lobby would put him at odds since it’s likely that a substantial chunk of his election financial support comes from Jewish constituents. While Biden has pumped up the pressure on Netanyahu of late, as usual, the Israeli leader isn’t budging from his plans to invade Rafah, his position on a two-state solution and his plans to build Jewish settlements on Gaza. After the WCK incident, the mood worldwide not to keep arming Israel is stronger than ever and it’s not just analysts who ask how the U.S. can claim to favor a ceasefire when they continue arming Israel. As the Democratic House representative signatories stated in their letter to Biden: “In light of this incident, we strongly urge you to reconsider your recent decision to authorize the transfer of a new arms package to Israel, and to withhold this and any future offensive arms transfers until a full investigation into the airstrike is completed. “We also urge you to withhold these transfers if Israel fails to sufficiently mitigate harm to innocent civilians in Gaza, including aid workers, and if it fails to facilitate — or arbitrarily denies or restricts the transport and delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza.” Its already happened and as the world looks on in horror, nothing is being done to stop any of it.
