Biden maintains firm support for Israel despite protests from the left

Joe Biden came to the White House with the intention of not being engulfed in conflicts in the Middle East in which, as the experience of presidents in recent decades shows, there is little room for success and enormous chances of failure.

The escalation of violence in Gaza and Israel in recent days and the international community, however, have increased the pressure for the Democrat to get involved and, moreover, to do so in the crossfire.

Biden has underlined his support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, using words almost identical to those used in his day by Barack Obama - "Israel has the right to defend itself" - but the party has changed, leftist voices have gained weight and demand a position. more critical of his close ally.

More information

• Biden claims Israel has the right to defend itself from attacks

• The EU calls for an end to the escalation in Gaza and suggests the mediation of the United States

The president considered Thursday, to questions from journalists, there had been "no significant overreaction" in the Israeli response to rocket attacks launched by Hamas brigades.

"One of the things that I have seen so far is that there has not been an overreaction," declared the president at the White House.

"The question is how to get to a point where attacks are significantly reduced, especially rocket attacks that are launched indiscriminately against population centers," he added.

The statements have not been to the liking of the more progressive flank of the Democrats, including the Palestinian-American representative Rachida Tlaib, who criticized the president for not mentioning the Palestinians killed by the Israeli bombings. Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, both prominent members of the so-called

The Squad

, have expressed solidarity with Palestinian civilians and condemned Israel for its policy of evicting Palestinian families and treating civilians.

The rest of the American political class, and especially the Republicans, have expressed their support for Israel. The latter have even asked Biden to cease any negotiations with Iran for the nuclear deal. The favorite candidate of the Democratic primaries for mayor of New York, Andrew Yang, has had to publicly apologize for a tweet in which on Monday he lamented the Hamas attacks on Israel, without mentioning the loss of Palestinian lives. After receiving a barrage of criticism, many of them from coreligionists, Yang on Tuesday linked another tweet in which he sympathized with the Palestinian victims, "as well as the Israelis."

The uncomfortable situation in Washington was also reflected in the comings and goings of the United Nations National Security Council. After two closed-door meetings this week, the agency will hold a public session this Sunday, if it manages to definitively overcome the reluctance of the United States, which has stopped the adoption of a resolution on the escalation of tension in Gaza, which is the worst since 2014. The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, indicated on Thursday that waiting a few days, until the beginning of next week, could allow “the diplomatic efforts under way to bear fruit and we can witness a real de-escalation” of the conflict.

The clamor of the international community -verbalized this Friday by the European Union- and of many voices within the United States, which demands that the Joe Biden Administration be more involved in the crisis as the main actor capable of promoting an end to the hostilities, has been escalating as the hours passed and images of destruction and death in Gaza and Israel made headlines. But the contradiction between Blinken's statements and the assertiveness of Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield is another sign of the White House's reluctance to be swept up in a practically open war.

“We are open and support a discussion at the UN, early next week.

I hope this gives us some time for diplomacy to take effect and see if we can really achieve a real reduction in tensions, "Blinken said at a press conference.

The head of US diplomacy also pointed out that the missile attacks from Gaza must stop;

that Israel "has the right to defend itself" - the same expression used the day before by President Joe Biden - and that Washington has "urgently" involved its allies in the region - Egypt and Jordan, among others - so that "calm prevails ”.

Shortly after, the US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, assured through her Twitter profile that the Council will meet this Sunday.

Diplomats accredited to the UN assured

The Times of Israel

newspaper

that the US had initially suggested that a virtual meeting - the UN headquarters in New York is still closed due to the pandemic - and open to the public would be held next Tuesday and not this Friday, as it was contemplated, but finally Washington would have yielded, if the ambassador had been believed, to pressure from Norway, China and Tunisia. The draft resolution that the Biden Administration has stopped is precisely due to Norway. The delegations of the United States and the United Kingdom achieved this week that the text includes a statement condemning the violence of the Hamas brigades, according to diplomatic sources close to the negotiation.

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