Calling Netanyahu’s Administration “the most conservative government in Israel’s history,” Biden said the prime minister must “change his government”.
US President Joe Biden warned on Tuesday that Israel is losing support over its “indiscriminate” bombing of Gaza and that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should “change his government”, Reuters news agency reported.
Biden’s remarks were reportedly made to donors to his 2024 re-election campaign and were his most critical to date of Netanyahu’s handling of Israel’s war in Gaza.
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“Israel’s security can rest on the United States, but right now it has more than the United States. It has the European Union, it has Europe, it has most of the world,” Biden was quoted as saying. “But they’re starting to lose that support by indiscriminate bombing that takes place.” he reportedly added.
Biden went on to cite a private discussion with Netanyahu in which Israel’s prime minister likened the Gaza conflict to the Second World War and observed that “a lot of civilians died” in Allied bombing raids.
However, Biden said he rejected that comparison and told Netanyahu that “all these institutions were set up after World War II to see to it that it didn’t happen again.”
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Calling Netanyahu’s Administration “the most conservative government in Israel’s history,” Biden said the prime minister must “change his government,” without elaborating, only adding that it had made long-term solutions “very difficult.”
“We have an opportunity to begin to unite the region… and they still want to do it. But we have to make sure that (Netanyahu) understands that he’s got to make some moves… You cannot say no Palestinian state,” the president continued.
In a statement earlier on Tuesday, Netanyahu insisted that he would never “repeat the mistake of Oslo,” referring to a 1993 peace deal that created a roadmap for a Palestinian state.
Despite Biden’s more critical comments to donors, elsewhere he has continued to voice staunch support for Israel’s military operation. During a White House event to mark the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah on Monday, he told attendees “I am a Zionist” while reiterating Washington’s “unshakable” commitment to Israel’s security.
Moreover, Biden continues to urge lawmakers to approve a spending package that includes $14.3 billion in military aid for Israel and recently bypassed a congressional review to fast-track the sale of $106.5 million in tank shells to the Israeli army.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 18,412 Palestinians have been killed and more than 50,000 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7. Palestinian and international estimates say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
(PC, RT, Reuters)
