The White House (“Readout of President Joe Biden’s Call with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel“):
President Biden spoke by telephone with Prime Minister Netanyahu. The two leaders discussed the situation in Gaza. President Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable. He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers. He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps. He underscored that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians, and he urged the Prime Minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home. The two leaders also discussed public Iranian threats against Israel and the Israeli people. President Biden made clear that the United States strongly supports Israel in the face of those threats.
That’s the whole readout.
Liberal Washington Post (“Biden warns Netanyahu the situation in Gaza is ‘unacceptable’“):
President Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that the United States would reassess its policy toward the war in Gaza if the Jewish state does not take immediate steps to address the disastrous humanitarian situation in the enclave and protect aid workers.
“In the coming hours and days, we will be looking for concrete, tangible steps that they’re taking,” said White House spokesman John Kirby.
[…]
It marked the first time Biden has indicated a willingness to reassess his unwavering support of Israel’s campaign in Gaza, as pressure grows among prominent Democrats to condition weapons sales to Israel as the death toll in Gaza has surpassed 33,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The president’s rhetoric has grown increasingly sharp regarding Israel’s handling of the crisis, but until now he had not directly warned Israel of consequences if it does not change course.
It also marked a rare moment in recent decades when the United States has suggested its support for Israel was anything but unconditional.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated the message in Brussels on Thursday. And Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), a close Biden ally and a staunch supporter of Israel, said the United States is “at that point” where conditions must be placed on military aid to Israel.
The changing dynamic comes as Israel plans to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where up to 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering in decrepit conditions after fleeing there under Israeli orders. U.S. officials have warned Israel against a major campaign in Rafah that would endanger numerous civilians.
“If Benjamin Netanyahu were to order the [Israel Defense Forces] into Rafah at scale … and make no provision for civilians or for humanitarian aid, I would vote to condition aid to Israel,” Coons said on CNN. “I’ve never said that before. I’ve never been here before.”
Despite the explicit warning, the White House offered no details about how it would assess whether Israelhad complied with Biden’s demands, or how U.S. policy could change if the administration determined it had not done so.
“If we don’t see changes from their side, there will be changes from our side,” Kirby said. “But I’m not going to preview what that might look like.” He declined to say whether Washington might suspend military aid to Israel.
Among the changes Biden wants to see, Kirby said, are “a dramatic increase in humanitarian aid getting in, additional crossings opened up, and a reduction in violence against civilians.” He added that the United States expected to see Israel not just “announcing” changes, but “executing” and “implementing” them.
Later Thursday, Israel announced initial steps to address Biden’s demands. They included opening the Ashdod port for direct delivery of aid into Gaza; opening Israel’s Erez crossing to help facilitate the delivery of aid into northern Gaza, where law and order has collapsed and aid groups have warned that famine is already underway; and increasing aid deliveries from Jordan.
NYT (“Israel to Add Gaza Aid Routes as Biden Hinges Support on Civilian Protection“):
President Biden threatened on Thursday to condition future support for Israel on how it addresses his concerns about civilian casualties and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, prompting Israel to commit to permitting more food and other supplies into the besieged enclave in hopes of placating him.
[…]
The statement was the sharpest the White House has issued on Israel’s conduct in the six months of its war against Hamas, underscoring the president’s growing frustration with Mr. Netanyahu and his anger over this week’s killing of seven aid workers by Israeli military forces. But while the president repeated his call for a negotiated deal that would result in an “immediate cease-fire” and the release of hostages taken by Hamas, White House officials stopped short of saying directly that he might limit U.S. arms supplies if not satisfied.
By the middle of the night in Jerusalem, Israel made its first gestures to Mr. Biden. In a statement, the government said it would increase aid deliveries to Gaza, including through the port of Ashdod and the Erez crossing, a checkpoint between Israel and northern Gaza that Hamas attacked on Oct. 7 and Israel had kept closed ever since. The statement did not say when the crossing would be reopened.
Biden administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private call in more detail, said that Mr. Netanyahu agreed to additional commitments intended to assuage the president. Among others, the officials said, Israel would promise to institute more measures to reduce civilian casualties and to empower negotiators brokering a temporary cease-fire deal in exchange for the release of hostages.
[…]
The president has long refused to curb the arms flow to influence Israel’s approach to the war. Mr. Biden said after Hamas killed 1,200 people and took hundreds of hostages in October that his support for Israel was “rock solid and unwavering.” While he has increasingly criticized what he sees as the excesses of the military operation, he has until now stuck by his vow.
But with rising agitation on the political left, particularly in electoral swing states like Michigan, even some of Mr. Biden’s closest Democratic allies are coming around to the view that Washington should exercise more control over the weaponry, including Senator Chris Coons, a fellow Democrat from Delaware and confidant of the president.
Times of Israel (“Blinken warns: Israel risks becoming indistinguishable from Hamas if it doesn’t protect Gaza civilians“):
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warns that Israel risks becoming indistinguishable from Hamas if it continues to fail to protect civilians amid the Gaza war.
“What happened after October 7 could have ended immediately if Hamas had stopped hiding behind civilians, released the hostages and put down its weapons, but Israel is not Hamas. Israel is a democracy; Hamas, a terrorist organization. Democracies place the highest value on human life, every human life. As it has been said, whoever saves a life, saves the entire world,” Blinken says during a press conference in Brussels, quoting a Jewish proverb.
“That’s our strength. It’s what distinguishes us from terrorists like Hamas. If we lose that reverence for human life, we risk becoming indistinguishable from those we confront.”
“Right now, there is no higher priority in Gaza than protecting civilians, surging humanitarian assistance, and ensuring the security of those who provide it. Israel must meet this moment,” Blinken said.
He notes “important steps” Israel has taken to allow aid into Gaza, but clarifies that “the results on the ground are woefully insufficient and unacceptable,” with 100 percent of Gazans facing acute insecurity.
“This week’s horrific attack on the World Central Kitchen was not the first such incident. It must be the last,” the top US diplomat warns.
This is, I believe, a classic example of what the political scientist Robert Putnam calls a “two-level game.” Essentially, any diplomatic negotiation has to take into account both the foreign policy aims of the parties and the various domestic political pressures at work. This greatly complicates the notion that international relations involves unitary actors seeking to maximize the national interest. There are, in fact, multiple views of the national interest that have to be appeased.
In this case, while I genuinely believe Biden and his foreign policy team are distraught about civilian casualties in Gaza—and were particularly angered by the attack on the World Food Kitchen aid workers—I do not for a second believe that they believe “there is no higher priority in Gaza than protecting civilians.” And, certainly, they’re not foolish enough to believe they can make that Israel’s policy.
But Biden is facing increasing pressure from within his domestic constituency. As has been widely reported, the junior members of his own foreign policy team is much more pro-Palestinian than the old heads. And, as noted in several of the above news reports, that’s true of a significant portion of the Democratic voting base. They have to be appeased.
For that matter, Netanyahu is facing significant pressure at home over the war. Not only are people worried about the fate of the hostages who have been held captive for six months but there’s a significant faction that wants a more humane policy. He’s also being condemned almost across the board by world leaders, including some who actually matter to him. He may be an unmitigated asshole but he’s not an idiot.
So Biden puts out a readahead of a 30-minute phone call that includes some tough language and gets Netanyahu to make some symbolic gestures. This appeases the domestic constituencies of both parties. Biden can take credit for “getting tough” with Israel and Netanyahu can get credit with soft-liners for the gestures while telling hard-liners that his arm was being twisted.
I would be interested in knowing the substance of the other 28 minutes or so of the call. That would tell us what the real policy preferences of the two men are.
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Author: James Joyner
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