Biden confronts the limits of his influence over Israel - eviltoast

"For months, Netanyahu and his government have consistently ignored American counsel as to how to prosecute the war in Gaza against Hamas after the Oct. 7 terror attacks. Biden and his aides were repeatedly frustrated by Israel’s widening war aims within Gaza — with a devastating impact on Palestinian civilians — even at the cost of a deal to free the remaining hostages.

Biden deemed Israel’s response “over the top” and did stop one shipment of American arms to Israel. But even as pressure grew from fellow Democrats to create distance from Netanyahu, Biden’s reflexive instinct was to support Israel despite the swelling humanitarian crisis. As his influence over Netanyahu shrunk, the president’s anger grew. Phone calls between the two men were increasingly turned into shouting matches, according to one of the officials and one other senior official not authorized to discuss private conversations. Biden told confidants that he did not believe his Israeli counterpart wanted a cease-fire deal, arguing that Netanyahu was trying to perpetuate the conflict to save his political future and assist Trump in November’s election, the officials said."

  • bobalot@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Any politician that stands up to AIPAC gets millions (if not tens of millions) raised for their political opponents.

    The vast majority of politicians are far too frightened to anger this lobby in an election year.

    • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
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      3 months ago

      Didn’t one politician this year try to stand up to AIPAC and end up losing to an incredibly well-funded opponent? If so it would definitely have a chilling effect.