The bottom line is that the Biden administration is increasingly frustrated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Five days ago, a reporter asked President Joe Biden if aid to Israel should be conditional, and he answered that it’s “a worthwhile thought”.
His aides then pulled back and said, ‘No, we are not making it conditional yet.’
Not yet. That was the important point.
Then, 24 hours ago, Biden said that the war against Hamas should continue and that we can’t give them what they seek. So, he’s been in lockstep with Israel and Netanyahu publicly this entire time.
Now, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s plane heads to Tel Aviv, all of a sudden, you hear stories breaking all over the place, obviously coming from White House officials who want to send the message. They are saying now that the president of the United States told the prime minister of Israel directly that [he] can’t repeat the human cost in the south of Gaza as [he] did in the north.
So, very clearly, this is sending the message that Antony Blinken is going to be talking tough. They also want to see an extended ceasefire. At the same time, they want the delivery of humanitarian aid to continue if the fighting is restarted.
US President Biden has been a stalwart supporter of Israel. He has never publicly demanded things from them, and he has never actually imposed consequences on Israel. So, this could be just tough talk. But it is a change.
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