But he also criticized him for touting issues like paid family leave and controlling drug prices on which he has done little or not even proposed to Congress some of the popular items he mentioned. (1)
The parts on Israel deserve particular attention:
The United States has been leading international efforts to get more humanitarian assistance into Gaza.We’re creating a temporary pier in Gaza - but no “U.S. boots will be on the ground”? How is that supposed to work?
Tonight, I’m directing the U.S. military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the Gaza coast that can receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters. No U.S. boots will be on the ground. This temporary pier would enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day.
But Israel must also do its part. Israel must allow more aid into Gaza and ensure that humanitarian workers aren’t caught in the cross fire. To the leadership of Israel I say this. Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip.
Protecting and saving innocent lives has to be a priority.
As we look to the future, the only real solution is a two-state solution. I say this as a lifelong supporter of Israel and the only American president to visit Israel in wartime. There is no other path that guarantees Israel’s security and democracy.
There is no other path that guarantees Palestinians can live with peace and dignity. There is no other path that guarantees peace between Israel and all of its Arab neighbors, including Saudi Arabia.
Creating stability in the Middle East also means containing the threat posed by Iran. That’s why I built a coalition of more than a dozen countries to defend international shipping and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. I’ve ordered strikes to degrade Houthi capabilities and defend U.S. Forces in the region.
As Commander in Chief, I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and military personnel. (2)
And what is Benjamin Netanyahu, the man who Biden has given the ability to torpedo Biden’s own re-election campaign, saying? (3)
This certainly sounds like Netanyahu wants to go back to making full-on war on the Palestinians his war has already driven into the Rafah area:
Israel will not give in to international pressure to stall an attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah and will continue its bloody offensive against Hamas, said Benjamin Netanyahu.This is a bizarre situation. Israel has created famine in Gaza by a deliberate blockage on vital food supplies. The US is providing open-ended military support for the war Netanyahu is waging in Gaza of which the food blockade is a part. Now the US coming in to provide supplies to some of those whose starvation the US is supporting and financing by their support of Israeli war crimes.
“There is international pressure and it’s growing, but … we need to stand together against the attempts to stop the war,” the prime minister told a military graduation ceremony in southern Israel, saying that Israel’s forces would operate against Hamas all through the Gaza Strip “including Rafah, the last Hamas stronghold”.
He added: “Whoever tells us not to act in Rafah is telling us to lose the war and that will not happen.”
The uncompromising statement came just hours after news that Hamas had withdrawn its delegation from indirect ceasefire negotiations in Cairo, suggesting that the chances of even a short pause to the war in Gaza before the Islamic holy month of Ramadan are now very slim. (4)
I’m happy if some people get more food this way. But it is also facilitating Israel’s starvation campaign and even giving them an alibi for not following the laws of war and for not living up to their international obligations to the territories they have been occupying for decades.
And what happens if Israel attacks American forces? (Maybe the question should be when and not if, given how Israel has been conducting itself.) What will the Biden Administration do if Israeli forces kill Americans who are part of the humanitarian mission in some way?
It’s worth remembering that in 1967, Israel did attack an American ship, the USS Liberty, “an attack that would leave 34 Americans dead and 171 wounded.” (5)
Benjamin Netanyahu, tremendously unpopular among Israeli voters, has maximum incentive to prolong the war to keep himself in office and out of jail on corruption charges for as long as possible. And from his point of view - and possibly from Hamas’ viewpoint as well (6) - it would be advantageous to spread a larger regional war and even involve the US in direct conflict with Iran.
Netanyahu would also prefer to see Donald Trump in office. So Biden will have to find a better way to manage the situation if he wants to avoid Nethanyahu torpedoing his popularity and chances for reelection in November.
Notes:
(1) Cenk PRAISES Biden's State of the Union Speech?! The Young Turks YouTube channel 03/08/2024. (Accessed: 2024-08-03).
(2) Remarks of President Joe Biden — State of the Union Address As Prepared for Delivery. ´White House.gov <https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/03/07/remarks-of-president-joe-biden-state-of-the-union-address-as-prepared-for-delivery-2/> (Accessed: 2024-08-03). My paragraph breaks.
(3) Haaretz 03/07/2024. <https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-03-07/ty-article-live/idf-soldier-killed-13-wounded-in-gaza-fighting-hamas-says-talks-on-verge-of-collapse/0000018e-16ed-d792-a7be-3efd76930000> (Accessed: 2024-08-03).
(4) Burke, Jason (2024): Israel will resist pressure to halt Rafah attack, says Netanyahu. The Guardian 03/07/2024. <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/07/israel-resist-pressure-halt-rafah-attack-netanyahu> (Accessed: 2024-08-03).
(5) Pensack, Mariam (2017): Fifty Years Later, NSA Keep Details of Israel's USS Liberty Attack Secret. The Intercept 06/06/2017. <https://theintercept.com/2017/06/06/fifty-years-later-nsa-keeps-details-of-israels-uss-liberty-attack-secret/> (Accessed: 2024-08-03).
(6) Rozen, Laura (2024): U.S. presses for Gaza truce amid reports talks deadlocked. Diplomatic 03/07/2024. (Accessed: 2024-08-03).
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