A day after President Biden asserted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was “hurting Israel more than helping Israel,” Mr. Netanyahu dismissed that competition as “wrong,” escalating the leaders’ more and more public dispute.
Mr. Netanyahu, in an interview with Politico, challenged Mr. Biden’s evaluation of Israel’s navy technique within the Gaza Strip, and stated that his insurance policies represented what the “overwhelming majority” of Israelis needed.
“I don’t know exactly what the president meant, but if he meant by that that I’m pursuing private policies against the majority, the wish of the majority of Israelis, and that this is hurting the interests of Israel, then he’s wrong on both counts,” Mr. Netanyahu stated.
He added, “They’re policies supported by the overwhelming majority of the Israelis. They support the action that we’re taking to destroy the remaining terrorist battalions of Hamas.”
Mr. Netanyahu was responding to feedback Mr. Biden made on Saturday in an interview with MSNBC. Mr. Biden rebuked Mr. Netanyahu over the rising civilian loss of life toll in Gaza, at the same time as he reaffirmed American help for Israel.
“He has a right to defend Israel, a right to continue to pursue Hamas, but he must, he must, he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken,” Mr. Biden stated.
“In my view, he’s hurting Israel more than helping Israel,” Mr. Biden stated, showing to consult with Mr. Netanyahu’s navy technique. “It’s contrary to what Israel stands for, and I think it’s a big mistake. So I want to see a cease-fire.”
Asked by the interviewer, Jonathan Capehart, if he had a “red line” that Mr. Netanyahu mustn’t cross, like a floor invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza, Mr. Biden supplied a muddled response however stated that “the defense of Israel is still critical.”
“He cannot have 30,000 more Palestinians dead as a consequence” of his pursuit of Hamas, the president stated, referring to Mr. Netanyahu.
“There’s other ways to deal, to get to, to deal with the trauma caused by Hamas,” he added.
Mr. Biden didn’t provide particulars. The Gazan well being ministry has stated that greater than 31,000 folks have been killed within the enclave since Israel started the warfare in response to the Oct. 7 assaults launched by Hamas.
But the president’s feedback as soon as once more highlighted the fragile place the United States has discovered itself in: arming Israel whereas on the similar time offering humanitarian support to Gaza.
Mr. Biden has been extra forceful in latest days in regards to the plight of civilians in Gaza, urging Mr. Netanyahu to not go forward together with his said plans to launch a significant floor offensive in Rafah and not using a plan to guard these sheltering there. More than 1,000,000 Gazans have sought refuge within the metropolis, a lot of whom had been displaced by Israeli navy orders to maneuver into so-called secure zones.
In the interview with Politico, Mr. Netanyahu reiterated that Israel nonetheless supposed to invade Rafah: “We’ll go there. We’re not going to leave. You know, I have a red line. You know what the red line is, that Oct. 7 doesn’t happen again. Never happens again.”
When requested about Mr. Biden’s remarks, Israel’s international minister, Israel Katz, declined to say what they recommended in regards to the relationship between the U.S. and Israel.
“I am trying to separate between rhetoric and essence: The goals of the war and the state of Israel are simple — they are to release all of the hostages and to dismantle Hamas’s military and leadership force,” Mr. Katz advised Kan, Israel’s public radio community on Sunday. “The United States supports these goals as Biden had stressed yesterday.”
He added that Israel had stated there could be a plan to evacuate civilians from Rafah earlier than any floor invasion, and he reiterated that his nation’s navy didn’t “deliberately harm civilians.”
The push towards Rafah has drawn warnings from the United States and different allies in regards to the potential humanitarian value. The United Nations has stated {that a} floor invasion of Rafah may have “huge implications for all of Gaza, including the hundreds of thousands at grave risk of starvation and famine in the north.”
Under Mr. Biden’s route, U.S. navy cargo planes have in latest days dropped meals, water and different support into Gaza a handful of instances. The newest airdrop got here on Monday, when the U.S. navy stated it dropped greater than 27,000 “meal equivalents” and almost 26,000 bottles of water into northern Gaza.
In addition, the Biden administration has introduced plans to construct a floating pier off the coast of Gaza to ship extra provides to the enclave.
But American officers have acknowledged that dropping support by air and constructing a pier won’t be as efficient as delivering provides by land, an choice that Israel has largely blocked.
Gabby Sobelman contributed reporting.
Source: www.nytimes.com