Joe Biden said on Tuesday that he has warned Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel’s indiscriminate bombing of Gaza was beginning to alienate Europe and the rest of the international community.
Speaking at a 2024 re-election campaign fundraiser in Washington, the US president ramped up pressure on Israel over any post-hostilities deal. He said the Israelis “can’t say no” to a Palestinian state, and urged Netanyahu not to repeat the mistakes made by the US after 9/11.
Invoking specifically the prolonged US war in Afghanistan, he said: “There’s no reason we did so many of the things we did.”
While Israel could rely for its security on the US, Biden warned that the alliance of international support that had been created in the wake of the 7 October attack by Hamas was now in peril.
Israel “has the European Union, it has Europe, it has most of the world supporting them, but they’re starting to lose that support by indiscriminate bombing that takes place”.
He also had some harsh words for the Netanyahu government, which he called “the most conservative” in the country’s history. Biden went as far as to say that Netanyahu had to “change this government”, singling out Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister, who opposes a future two-state solution.
“You cannot say no” to a Palestinian state, “that’s going to be the hard part,” Biden said.
His comments reflect growing divisions over what happens after the war: US calls for Gaza to be turned over to a reformed Palestinian Authority have received a cool reception in Israel.
After a phone call with Biden on Tuesday, Netanyahu said that there was “disagreement” between the allies over “the day after Hamas”.
The Israeli leader said he hoped “we will reach agreement here” but he vowed not to “repeat the mistake of Oslo”, referring to the 1993 peace accords signed in the United States.
Biden’s remarks came as pressure mounted from other western governments seeking a break in the relentless Israeli attacks which continued overnight. The governments of Australia, Canada and New Zealand released a joint statement on Tuesday calling for a pause in hostilities to be resumed to allow for “safe and unimpeded humanitarian access” to all Palestinian civilians and the release of all remaining hostages.
Later on Tuesday the 193-member UN general assembly was set to meet in New York to vote on a non-binding resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. A similar resolution brought to the UN security council by António Guterres, the UN secretary general, on Friday failed after the US wielded its veto.
Biden’s warning for Netanyahu suggested that a crack could be opening up in his previously solid support for Israel over its punishing response to the 7 October attack by Hamas that killed 1,200 people, mainly civilians. Two months of military operations inside Gaza have left more than 18,000 Palestinians killed, according to the health ministry, and an estimated 50,000 with injuries.
The fraught question of how long Israel’s bombardment of Gaza is likely to last will be on the agenda when Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, travels to Jerusalem later this week. Sullivan said on Tuesday that he will discuss the timetable of the military campaign with the Israeli war cabinet.
“The subject of how they are seeing the timetable of this war will certainly be on the agenda for my meetings,” he said.
Biden’s sharp words for Netanyahu came as the US president himself faces increasing criticism over his stance on the Israeli assault, both from the court of public opinion and from inside his own Democratic party. A recent CBS News poll found that only 20% of Americans think his approach is more likely to lead to a peaceful resolution of the conflict, while 38% of Democrats – substantially up from 28% last month – felt that Biden has shown too much support for Israel.
Biden was scheduled to hold his first personal meeting on Wednesday with the families of Americans taken hostage by Hamas on 7 October. NBC News reported that the families had been invited to the White House, though some might appear virtually.
Four Americans were released during the previous humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, while seven remain unaccounted for.
While splits are starting to emerge in the US-Israeli alliance, particularly over what the endgame in the Gaza war will be, Biden’s longstanding support for Israel as a Jewish nation remains firm. On Monday night he told a Hanukah party at the White House that “were there no Israel, there would not be a Jew in the world who is safe”.
He added: “You don’t have to be a Jew to be a Zionist. I am a Zionist.”
