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CNN
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Six months into Israel’s war with Hamas, President Joe Biden finds himself increasingly embroiled in a foreign crisis beyond his control that is having profound implications for U.S. domestic politics. His re-election bid is weighing heavily on him.
War broke out over the weekend after Israeli attacks on the Iranian embassy in Damascus prompted U.S. officials to warn of possible Iranian retaliatory attacks in the region and Israel’s promise of escalation on its northern border. Omnipresent geopolitical risks have been highlighted. Relations with Lebanon continue with operations in Gaza to rout Hamas, the Tehran-backed group that killed more than 1,200 Israelis and took more than 200 hostages in an unprecedented October attack. Despite that. Talks are expected to resume in Cairo this week amid growing international unrest over the human impact of the war, which has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians.
U.S. forces and Israel in the region were on alert for a possible attack by Iran in retaliation for last week’s killing of two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leaders in Damascus in an attack that the U.S. blamed on Israel. Actions by the Islamic Republic that are contrary to the interests of Israel and the United States could spark a full-scale Middle East war that the White House fears. Even if Iran does not strike back, low-grade conflicts are already smoldering across the region. Israel’s northern border is becoming increasingly dangerous, with the US attacking Iranian customers in Yemen, the Red Sea, Syria and Iraq, while regularly firing missiles at Hezbollah forces in Lebanon. Israel faces what former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told CNN on Sunday, an “octopus of terror” from Iran.
In another example of the drama the president wants to avoid in a reelection year, Biden is locked in a showdown with the Israeli prime minister. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bowed to pressure last week after a high-stakes phone conversation to open new aid routes to Gaza. Israel announced on Sunday that it would withdraw from the Khan Yunis area of the Gaza Strip, leaving behind a moonscape of destruction. The move comes in the wake of international outrage following the killing last week of seven aid workers, including one Palestinian and six foreigners, including one American. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far resisted scaling back Israeli operations despite repeated calls from Biden, meaning that depending on how many Palestinian civilians are killed in the coming weeks, the administration may decide to launch its own This means that the government has been warned that it may change its Gaza policy.
Meanwhile, the dire humanitarian crisis that has fueled criticism of both Israel and Biden is reaching a point of no return. World Food Program Director Cindy McCain said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that children are dying “even as we speak,” even as massive aid is injected into Gaza. , said that many people will suffer from the aftereffects for the rest of their lives. “We are literally on the brink of going over the edge of hunger, over a cliff and never recovering from it,” McCain said, adding that the World Food Program had a massive supply of food for 1.1 million people just outside the Gaza border. He added that he had collected them. “We just have to accept it,” McCain told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “That’s why these intersections are so important and we need more of them.”
Domestically, Biden faces a fierce backlash from progressive, young and Arab American voters, which could jeopardize his re-election hopes in several key battleground states. Periodic interruptions by hecklers and protests at campaign events could create a disastrous prime time distraction for the president at the Democratic National Convention if the conflict is still raging in August. This is a harbinger of chaos. The White House’s attempts to alleviate the problem last week underscored it after a Palestinian-American doctor walked out of a rally with Biden scheduled to celebrate the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. I just did it.
Biden, now instinctively one of the most pro-Israel presidents of modern times, is pushing Democratic officials, including some of his closest allies, to do more to rein in Israel by raising the prospect of terms. is facing increasing political pressure from He spent billions of dollars on US arms shipments. Republicans, meanwhile, reacted sharply to the president’s leaning toward Netanyahu during a phone call last week, accusing Biden of abandoning one of America’s closest friends. And former President Donald Trump, who is considered a likely Republican candidate, believes things are spiraling out of control under his successor’s watch and that he is the only one who can stop World War III. It is certain that they will distort the expansion of the war in order to make their point clearer.
Biden’s call to Netanyahu on Thursday marked the most important moment yet in the president’s evolving war response. He has repeatedly criticized Israel’s tactics in the Gaza Strip and called on it to protect civilians, but has been unwilling to reveal the consequences of Netanyahu’s refusal to listen. Ta.
CNN’s MJ Lee reported on Sunday that the president gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a list of immediate actions, including opening the Erez crossing in the Gaza Strip and the port of Ashdod in southern Israel to humanitarian aid. “Joe, we’ll do it,” a person familiar with the conversation said, characterizing Netanyahu’s response.
But Biden has an urgent political need to end the war quickly, reflected in his call for an “immediate” ceasefire. Prime Minister Netanyahu has signaled his determination to eliminate all Hamas fighters, even if the U.S. carries out an attack in the Rafah area of the Gaza Strip, where it fears civilian bloodshed. This means that tensions and distrust remain high.
White House national security communications adviser John Kirby told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that allies remain at odds over the planned invasion. “We have made it clear to the prime minister and his team that we do not support ground operations in Rafah and that there are other methods and options that need to be considered on how to attack Hamas.” remains a threat,” he said. Kirby also downplayed Israel’s withdrawal from Khan Yunis. “It’s hard to know exactly what that tells us at this point,” he told ABC News’ “This Week.” “They’ve been on the ground for four months. The word we’re getting is they’re tired. They need to be repaired.”
For weeks, no progress has been made in tortuous ceasefire negotiations involving Israel, Hamas, major Gulf powers and the United States, reinforcing the impression that the war is far from over. Asked by CNN’s Fareed Zakaria whether Prime Minister Netanyahu was prolonging the fight to avoid personal and legal reckoning, Bennett refused to break his ranks. “I think this decision is being made for the right reasons. You know, there may be people who disagree with any decision, but by and large the goal is to defeat Hamas,” he said. “We cannot end this war as long as Hamas stands. An organization that wants to destroy the Jewish people, that has made it clear that it has done the worst thing possible, and that it wants to do it again and again. It cannot exist. Therefore, we must eliminate Hamas.”
The possibility of a prolonged war would further frustrate Democrats worried about the impact on Mr. Biden’s already damaged electoral coalition. Last week’s Israeli attack on the World Central Kitchen convoy appears to have galvanized action in Washington, unlike the months-long massacre of civilians in Gaza. This may be partly due to the influence of WCK founder, chef and restaurateur Jose Andres. He has deep ties to the American capital and a prominent international media profile.
“President Biden…you can do it, and America will stand behind you and support Israel’s right to defend itself from this massive attack. I would also like to say that we can defend and support the right of Palestinians to not die just by trying,” Andres told ABC News. “You can be a friend of Israel and at the same time tell your partners in the Middle East that you cannot wage war in that way. Every building, every hospital, every school, every You can’t destroy universities.” This celebrity chef’s summary of Biden’s dilemma is one the president has struggled to reconcile throughout the conflict, and with increasing attempts to influence Prime Minister Netanyahu’s choices. However, it seems that the problem is far from resolved.
Since the attack on the WCK convoy, a growing number of Democratic politicians have signaled to Biden that his unwillingness to tighten control over Prime Minister Netanyahu is unacceptable. Many of the public statements also appear to be designed as coded warnings to the White House about the political risks the president is running.
Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said, “The president ultimately told Netanyahu that there would be consequences if he did not comply with my demands, at least as reported. I was happy to see it,” said Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. Face the nation. “If the Netanyahu regime is not fulfilling its commitments, including the provision of humanitarian aid, or is not complying with international law, there should be no further arms shipments to the Netanyahu regime.”
Van Hollen’s comments followed those from another leading Democratic lawmaker, Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, last week. Coons, who is very close to Biden, suggested he would be open to conditions imposed on how Israel uses American weapons.
Biden is not alone in facing increased political pressure. For the second week in a row, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced massive political protests over his handling of the war and his failure to return home more than 100 hostages who are still being held in Gaza or are missing. The fragile coalition that keeps him in power is under stress from both the left and the right, amid growing calls for early elections from his critics in Israel and the United States.
Tensions with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are evolving at the same time, with both Israel and the United States warning that Iran may be poised to retaliate for last week’s attack on Damascus. In his comments to CNN, Bennett did not acknowledge that Israel carried out the attack in Damascus, but implicitly justified it.
“Iran is an octopus of terror. Its head is in Tehran and it has sent its tentacles across Israel and the Middle East. There’s Hezbollah in Lebanon. There’s Islamic Jihad in Gaza and a little bit of Hamas. The Houthis. They’re all over the place. And they’ve been hitting Israel with their arms while their heads have become somewhat immune,” he said. “So the era of impunity for the head of Iran is over.”
Concerns about Iran’s direct involvement in the war cut across party lines in Washington. Rep. Michael Turner, Republican of Ohio, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, harshly criticized Biden for his conflict management and criticism of Israel. But in an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” he appeared to criticize the Damascus attack, which many observers see as Israel testing a red line that Iran shouldn’t cross.
Turner said the attack, which Iran identified as the building of its consulate in Damascus, was justified given the Islamic Republic’s history of inciting terrorism. But he added: “It’s still very unwise. We were trying to put pressure on Iran to stay out of this conflict, both with the US presence and in response to attacks on our own forces, but we’ve seen this happen across the region. It is definitely escalating the problem.
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