The Washington Post: Don’t believe Washington rebuke of Netanyahu

The media portrays the Biden administration’s Middle East policies as well-intentioned but ineffective, said Perry Bacon Jr., a columnist for The Washington Post.

The president’s aides say, Biden and his team are pushing very hard for a solution that would end the violence.

Biden is also said to be critical of and berate Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the two speak privately, but he has been unable to sell him on a strategy that would reduce Palestinian casualties.

There may be some truth to what is said, Biden who is increasingly convinced – after a year of conflict that is expanding beyond the Gaza Strip – that his administration largely agrees with Netanyahu’s strategy, despite its occasional hints to the contrary.

Netanyahu’s policies are, in many ways, the same as those of the United States, and acknowledging that is the first step to changing them.

Netanyahu’s policies are, in many ways, the same as those of the United States, and recognizing that is the first step to changing them.

According to Bacon’s article, America isn’t the absolute power in the world, and it is difficult to believe the idea that it doesn’t have significant influence over a close ally to which it provides billions of dollars in weapons.

After all, foreign governments often bend to the will of the United States, as the author suggests, citing Mexico’s acquiescence to the Biden administration’s demands that it stop the flow of migrants across its border, and Ukrainian leaders sometimes complaining about the many strings attached to US military aid they receive to fight Russia.

The US response is often very aggressive when it doesn’t get what it wants, as evidenced last month by its seizure of a plane used by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who has angered US officials by not relinquishing power despite clear evidence that he lost the recent election.

In contrast, the US government has taken little action to rein in Israel, such as linking military aid to reducing civilian casualties.

Bacon alleged that Biden and his top aides went to great lengths to ignore or downplay Israeli moves that were sharply criticized by human rights groups, other countries, and even career officials within the US government.

These moves include Israel’s prevention of humanitarian aid from reaching Palestinian civilians, its killing of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh, and its detonation of pagers used by the Lebanese Hezbollah.

Bacon wrote he wasn’t suggesting that Israel should stop trying to destroy Hamas and Hezbollah just because the United States asked it to.

But if it had been pressed hard, Israel could have been forced to limit the suffering of Palestinian civilians who had no role in the October 7, 2023, attack.

Unconditional American support encouraged the Israelis to take excessively aggressive actions.

Bacon asked why the United States doesn’t really want to rein in Israel, and he answered that it doesn’t really want to.

Bacon added that Biden’s public comments and those of other US administration officials are generally consistent with Netanyahu’s view of the Middle East.

Leaders in Tel Aviv and Washington portray Israel as a well-mannered democracy surrounded by states hostile to its existence.

Bacon advised that the United States should formulate a new policy towards Israel, and instead of lecturing Netanyahu or Biden about the number of children dying or starving, “we should push them to reconsider the core ideas behind their alliance”.

He stressed that the United States should stop intervening in long-term cold (and hot) wars with China, Iran, Russia, or any other country, but should condemn specific actions, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and criticize allies, whether Britain or Israel, when they act unfairly.

He stressed that nothing that the leaders of Hamas, Hezbollah, or Iran are doing justifies the large numbers of civilian deaths, and Biden and his aides shouldn’t have said what they have been repeating repeatedly over the past year, that “the lives of Israelis and Palestinians matter,” rather than saying that “Israel has the right to defend itself”.

Bacon concluded his article in an angry tone, saying that the Biden administration and critics of Israel’s actions should stop complaining about Netanyahu, “he’s not the only problem,” and that the United States should either acknowledge its agreement with his strategy or take real steps to push him in a less destructive direction.