ANALYSIS — A much-anticipated State Department report on possible Israeli humanitarian violations in Gaza is quintessential to President Joe Biden’s presidency: It sends mixed messages about the Jewish state’s conduct of the war and further clouds the administration’s murky policy approach.
The report, which the administration agreed to provide under its National Security Memorandum 20, is the latest attempt to influence Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct of his war with Hamas in Gaza without further alienating voters at home as polls indicate Biden is in a dead heat with former President Donald Trump.
The report reflects a pattern from the president and his top aides of both criticizing, even threatening, Netanyahu while also choosing middle-ground approaches and sending mixed signals.
