President Biden and other senior U.S. officials are becoming increasingly frustrated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rejection of most of the administration's recent requests related to the war in Gaza, four U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the issue told Axios.
Why it matters: Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack 100 days ago, Biden has given Israel his full backing, with unprecedented military and diplomatic support, even while taking a political hit from part of his base in an election year. That support has largely continued publicly, but behind the scenes, there are growing signs that Biden is losing his patience, the U.S. officials said.
"The situation sucks and we are stuck. The president's patience is running out," one U.S. official told Axios.
"At every juncture, Netanyahu has given Biden the finger," Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who has been in close contact with U.S. officials about the war, told Axios. "They are pleading with the Netanyahu coalition, but getting slapped in the face over and over again."
Behind the scenes: Biden hasn't spoken to Netanyahu in the 20 days since a tense Dec. 23 call, which a frustrated Biden ended with the words: "This conversation is over." They had spoken almost every other day in the first two months of the war.
Before Biden hung up, Netanyahu had rejected his request that Israel release the Palestinian tax revenues it's withholding.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby tried to downplay the decrease in communication, telling reporters on Wednesday that "it doesn't say anything" about the state of the relationship.
But more and more signs of irritation are emerging. "There is immense frustration," a U.S. official said.
It has long been time to abandon the š„ and start using the stick.
Maybe old Joe will finally get the picture that you cannot work with a hostile authoritarian who is trying to preserve their political ambitions through warmongering. Better late than never I guess, but holy fuck how much more obvious can it get.
Okay well America doesn't elect Israel's leadership, so we don't get to choose who we work with. Bibi is a real piece of shit but our military alliance with Israel, not Bibi, and Bibi is less of a hostile authoritarian than all of the Islamic fundamentalist leaders in charge of all the surrounding countries; those countries have zero chance of establishing lasting human rights. As a democracy, Israel just might.
Guess they got pissed though on October 7 when Hamas used Gaza City to launch 3,000 rockets at Israel and then launch an invasion that killed 1,200 people in mass shootings.
It sure it. But then, the most powerful kingmaker in the US is AIPAC, if they withdraw their support of Biden, he will struggle in the presidential race.
Then the risk of a xenophobic wannabe dictator getting elected is put on the otherside of the scale.
So if you look at this from a purely US point of view. The tradeoff is brown people half a world away die, vs the US becoming trumplandia with all the vengeance he has promised to bestow on his political rivals.
So if it was your choice, what would you chose?
Edit to clarify: yes it's bizarre US allows PACs, corporations should not be treated as people, the situation is FUBAR.
Bidenās approval rating is 33%. AIPAC is of no consequence here - no incumbent in the history of US Federal elections has ever won with such abysmal polls in an election year. Not once, ever. Biden isnāt going to magically make history here, and his ego telling him he has to do 2 terms instead of allowing for a primary election so democracy can play out is the reason why.
Then he has the audacity to claim democracy is on the line this year. Itās already gone, America is just in denial about it.
Israel wasn't popular with the other countries in the region before October, most of it's neighbors have called for it's destruction, US support is basically what keeps them in check.
The money to Israel is NOT appropriations, it comes from the Foreign Military Financing Fund which is 100% allocated by the President. The President decides who and how much of that money goes to what counties and organizations.
Biden is going to lose an election over it. Let's try sanctions against Israel instead of, maybe, you know, giving them billions in military aid that's being used to kill toddlers.
Just because it is a talking point doesn't make it false. I am sure if America gave Ukraine a nuke and they used it to nuke Moscow, that fact would be a Russian talking point.
It's crickets when politicians propose giving billions of American taxpayer money and weapons to Israel, year after year. It has never been a better time to stop fucking doing that for good.
Bibi doesn't give two craps about Biden. Bibi knows that the entire Gaza debacle is a mess for Biden. He probably bets on a GOP win later this year, which will come with a big wave of financial support for him anyway.
My theory is that he prefers the GOP over the Dems anyway since theyāre a lot more supportive in terms of finances but also political support, whereas the Dems are threading more lightly around his issue. I think that partly fucking Biden over by not doing his bidding is an added benefit to him. Not only does he get to do what he wants but heās also creating domestic problems for Biden which in turn would mean that the GOP gets a better chance at unseating him and unlocking even more support for Israel
I didn't know Israel was even handling Palestinian tax revenues. Gives a clear picture of just how much of a stranglehold that Israel has on Palestine, but I suppose it should've been obvious since I already knew they controlled food, water, and pretty much everything going in and out of Palestine.
Or he is disgusted with how Netanyahu is waging genocide. The U.S. canāt just say āalright Israel, youāre on your ownā because it would possibly lead to a nuclear conflict between Israel and Iran. Shit would get out of hand real fast when the militants try to storm Israel thinking itās go time. I hate Netanyahu as much as I hate Khamenei and Hamas
Oh, no. A politician doing what the people want in order to save his job.
That's how it's supposed to work. It's better than the usual m.o. where the politician does whatever they want and screw the people. Yes, it would be nice if they did what you want from the get-go, but I will vote for the one that changes their stance due to popular pressure over one that "sticks to their guns" no matter who it's hurting.
(I'm speaking in generalities here. Obviously Biden hasn't changed his stance yet.)
Except he's not doing what the people want. He's doing what Israel wants and then making a big show out of being frustrated they aren't doing what he wants. For all we know, he's told them to not worry about what he's saying, he's just trying to win back support to avoid losing the election.
He could cut off the aid or add conditions to it at any time. Or even just not veto UN resolutions.
Thankfully the UN and Geneva Convention don't require us to wait for the oppressed population to be dead to declare a genocide. What Israel is doing meets the definition.
It isn't too late for Biden to turn things around here. Refuse to send more aid unless Netanyahu can ensure it won't kill innocent people, and make him do a little dance too.
Like always, Bibi is putting politics above all else.
How do you "run out of patience"? At some point, a line gets crossed. Bibi has either crossed the line, or he hasn't. Saying "oh boy you're trying my patience!" is about as toothless as my grandmother.
Considering that Trump overturned decades of consensus on both the US right and left in order to appease Israel by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital, I'm sure that Bibi would love a second Trump term. Especially since he's openly expressed his disdain for Democrats and solidarity with Republicans.
Sure sure, running out of patience. How many days since they sent them more missles and weapons? What like, 11 or 12 days now? And before that Biden used an executive order to send even more? That was after we sent them an initial round of tons of weapons? Yeah Ill tell ya they're bound to get a stern talking to any day now. I bet after they send them another 3 tons of ammunition the headlines will say something about how "the US is slamming Israel on their war in Gaza"
Its so exhausting all this theater.
Alternative take: It would be negligent for any western country, especially America, to not use this opportunity to bolster Israel's defensive capabilities for the inevitable war with Iran, as America's policy is based on tens of millions of lives not tens of thousands.
Like when you have enough with someone and tell them "Do as you like", instead the responsible thing to say is "you are not getting any of our weapons, Sherlock"
Uh oh, Bibi had better stop being mean or Dark Brandon is gonna have to get involved (halfheartedly whinge about it while bypassing congress to send more billions worth of weapons to Israel). Remember, vote for the guy who abuses his power to support genocide or you're literally worse than a Nazi!
Biden is following the same US-ally mutual defense policy that has been in place since Israel was founded, not voting for him this year because you don't like this policy specifically while ignoring all of the achievements of the past four years is incredibly foolish and short-sighted.
The idea that you should vote for Trump because biden himself hasn't vocally denounced netanyahu and the IDF after barely three months into the US support of one of its oldest active military allies following a terrorist attack is absolutely idiotic.
Biden is going well above and beyond in assisting Israeli genocide of Palestinians. This isn't just business as usual, this is even worse than usual.
"The idea that you should vote for Trump because biden himself hasn't vocally denounced netanyahu and the IDF after barely three months into the US support of one of its oldest active military allies following a terrorist attack is absolutely idiotic." yep, I don't like genocide and abuse of power, clearly that means I'm saying to vote for trump. Fuck off libtard
Voting 3rd party in '24 will only help Trump win by taking votes from his opposition. This is not the time to try to make a statement with your vote.
As others noted, if you want to break the 2 party system, support ranked choice voting. Alaska has it, why not in your state? Get involved. Make it happen.
Somebody doesn't understand basic game theory. A 3rd party will guarantee the worst outcome. The system does need to be reformed, but you can't do it that way.