1y ago

Biden: ‘every reason’ to believe Netanyahu is prolonging Gaza war for political gain

www.theguardian.com

US president’s remarks to Time magazine about PM’s role in conflict draw heavily critical response from Israeli government

Joe Biden has said that there is “every reason” to draw the conclusion that Benjamin Netanyahu is prolonging the war in Gaza for his own political self-preservation.

Biden made the remarks about the Israeli prime minister in an interview with Time magazine published on Tuesday morning, drawing a sharp response from the Israeli government, which accused the US president of straying from diplomatic norms.

Netanyahu’s popularity plummeted after the 7 October attack by Hamas, which exposed serious flaws in Israeli security. Most political observers say Netanyahu would lose elections if they were held now, and would be forced into opposition, facing court hearings on corruption charges. But elections have been put off until the war is over, or at least until major military operations are deemed to have been completed.

Time asked Biden whether he believed Netanyahu was “prolonging the war for his own political self-preservation”.

“I’m not going to comment on that,” the president said in response, but added: “There is every reason for people to draw that conclusion.”

119 comments

So we're going to stop supplying Israel with weapons, money, and international cover, right? RIGHT?
- No, Congress is going after the ICC for daring to investigate Israeli leaders for War Crimes
  
  Good thing Congress can't do shit about it short of repealing the Leahy Law with a veto proof majority.
  
  Biden: "We don't have the authority to stop Israel, our hands are tied."
  Also Biden: "We're going to invade the Hague if you so much as think about sanctioning this perfectly legal and justified military action."
  
  Biden needs to mandate a conclusive reassessment form the State Department so what Congress says doesn’t matter.
  
  You should just say republicans.
  There arent any democrats doing that.
- The US still needs Israel as an ally in the region. While Bibi may be a genocidal POS, Israel itself is crucial to US foreign policy. Expect weapons to keep flowing.
- congress decides that not biden....
If only he were in some kind of position of power to do something about it.
- you know he's a) not prime minister of israel b) not in charge of israel's military and c) not in congress, which apportions funds, right?
  
  Yeah...as commander and chief of the US armed forces he's completely powerless in stopping the flow of US weapons to Israel.
  
  He certainly is the President of the country sending weapons to Israel with multiple laws expressly forbidding him from sending weapons to a genocidal regime. (Leahy Law and Foreign Service Act)
  The FSA actually says they can't send any assistance to a government that, (among other things), engages in prolonged detention without charges. Something Israel has done for decades.
  We have the laws. We just need the Moral Fiber to fucking use them.
  
  You know that Biden can (and should) invoke Leahy law against israel which blocks the export of all weapons to a country committing war crimes, right?
  
  He's bypassed congress multiple times to approve weapon shipments to Israel btw. Just a cool little fun fact.
  
  Uwu joes just a widdle pwesident wearing a diaper held on with a giant safety pin, he can’t do anything to stop the genocide…
You're not supposed to say the quiet part out loud! -Isreal
- He literally didn't even say it, he just admitted that there are reasons for other people to think it. This headline wants him to have said something much stronger than he actually did, and even then Israel is throwing a hissy fit over anything short of full-throated support.
  
  Yup.
And Biden is prolonging it for political loss lol
- The US president doesn’t control the world, contrary to popular American opinion.
  
  You don't think the military support, and the diplomatic cover for Israel that the US provides at the UN (100% within Biden's prerogative) has any influence on the situation?
  
  The US president is literally going around his own Congress to ensure the Israelis are always well stocked with weapons during their genocide.
  
  UN veto power goes a long way.
  
  If he stopped supplying weapons, the war would stop as Israel wouldn't have the resources to continue the war on its own.
  
  But Biden, The American President, could at the very least abide by American Laws in regards to aid. Isreal has been in violation of the FSA for decades and this genocide breached the Leahy Law months ago.
  
  Of course not. The aliens do!
Full quote:
Time asked Biden whether he believed Netanyahu was “prolonging the war for his own political self-preservation”.
“I’m not going to comment on that,” the president said in response, but added: “There is every reason for people to draw that conclusion.”
But he still won't even fucking say it...
And people are already trying to frame this as him being "tough" on Israel.
No matter what happens, no matter what atrocities they commit, Biden will always be loyal to Israel over all else.
Which should be immediately disqualifying for president of America, for reasons that should be obvious by now.
- "There's every reason for people to believe X, but I'm not going to comment on it" is commenting on it. If your friend said "there's every reason to believe GSF murdered a hobo for fun, but I'm not going to comment on it", you're not going to thank them for not commenting on it.
  Biden has been WAAAAAY too deferential to Israel, and this is kind of a weak ass way to say it, but it was definitely said.
- But he still won't even fucking say it...
  He just did. In diplomatic terms, he screamed it to the heavens.
  International messaging isn't played at the level of you and I shooting the shit between ourselves. Netanyahu likely shit himself in rage and fear over this.
  
  Bruh, there have been other presidents...
  And they all said much worse, much earlier when Israel pulled their shit.
  Stop pretending this means anythingnwhilenBiden is still lying and saying there's no genocide while.providing munitions.
  For fucks sake, it's worse if Biden actually knows what's going on and this is all he's doing.
- Biden essentially just told the world the US has no faith in Netanyahu leadership, which is essentially telling the Likkud to disband and form a new coalition government.
  I get that you guys are demanding he use a word that the ICC has refused to use, but he is laying the groundwork yo accomplish an end to this but it doesn't fit your narrative.
  
  Biden essentially just told the world the US has no faith in Netanyahu leadership
  I suggest you read the actual interview, although it's hard to understand what Biden says before the media trims it into sound bites.
  Interviewer: Not at all. Some in Israel have suggested that Netanyahu is prolonging the war for his own political self-preservation. Do you believe that?
  Biden: I'm not going to comment on that. There is every reason for people to draw that conclusion. And I would cite tha as—before the war began, the blowback he was getting from the Israeli military for wanting to change the constitu—change the court. And so it's an internal domestic debate that seems to have no consequence. And whether he would change his position or not, it's hard to say, but it has not been helpful.
  https://time.com/6984968/joe-biden-transcript-2024-interview/
  He also blames Hamas that there's no ceasefire:
  And whose fault is it that the that deal, the ceasefire for hostages has not been consummated? Is it Hamas or Israel or both?
  Biden: Hamas. Hamas could end this tomorrow. Hamas could say (unintelligible) and done period. And, but, and the last offer Israel made was very generous in terms of who they'd be willing to release, what they'd give in return, et cetera. Bibi is under enormous pressure on the hostages, on the hostages, and so he's prepared to do about anything to get the hostages back.
  And denying their genocide:
  More broadly, from the intelligence in the evidence you've seen, either currently or in the last months, have Israeli forces committed war crimes in Gaza?
  Biden: The answer is it's uncertain and has been investigated by the Israelis themselves. The ICC is something that we don’t, we don't recognize. But one thing is certain, the people in Gaza, the Palestinians have suffered greatly, for lack of food, water, medicine, etc. And a lot of innocent people have been killed. But it is—and a lot of it has to do not just with Israelis, but what Hamas is doing in Israel as we speak. Hamas is intimidating that population. I went over right after that attack on the Israelis. What they did was—exceeded anything I've ever seen. And I've seen a lot. Tying mothers and daughters together with rope and pouring kerosene on it and burning them to death. That kind of thing, attempting to intimidate. And it is dastardly.
  Important note: Biden just keep repeating things that he claimed ms Hamas did, but there's no evidence besides Israel saying "trust me bro" yet he constantly excuses Israel's human rights abuses.
  Don't just read the small sound bites and fill in the gaps with what you hope it meant.
  That's what trumpets do.
  
  I think a lot of people don't understand the implications of saying it's genocide out loud.
  Since 1988 (when the US officially joined the Convention on Genocide), if the US officially says genocide is occurring, it's supposed to directly intervene. Several states are immune from the convention, including the US, but not Israel.
  It puts the US in a delicate position. Cutting off all support to such a major ally basically requires saying they're committing genocide, which commits us to war.
  There's a lot of people that are opposed to what's happening in Gaza, but don't want to get in a shooting war with Israel over it.
- Bidens gaslighting game so weak newspapers have to do it for him.
- Thank you, saved me time and hope. I'm going to go have some whiskey.
This is why I cheered when Biden pushed for a truce the past week, even though I've been really critical of Biden and that move didn't guarantee peace: because it locked the US administration into a dichotomy where they would either have to keep pushing to stop the war, or they'd look like tremendous hypocrites when Israel rejected the deal and the US continued supporting them. It's going to be quite difficult for Biden to do anything other than opposing Netanyahu until he agrees to attend the peace talks, or is ousted.
- Oh this is like the third time he's tried to take a premature victory lap on a peace deal. They just don't care about looking like hypocrites. Even when Hamas is the one saying yes and Israel refuses they just blame Hamas and go on to the next news cycle like nothing happened.
"I'm not going to comment on that, except right now, with this comment"
- classic bidenism
- He didn't really say anything other than "some people might have reason to think so".
  
  Which is the world's most condescending way to say he doesn't think so but like a kid on the playground isn't going to tell us why.
Later on Tuesday, Biden appeared to tone down his criticism of Netanyahu. Asked whether Netanyahu was “playing politics with the war”, Biden said: “I don’t think so. He’s trying to work out a serious problem he has.”
Every time he starts to give something halfway close to a good response to something insane happening in Gaza, he walks it back within days.
- Probably got a strong finger wagging from Israel.
- almost as if he's a world leader and doesn't want to get into an international crisis with a nuclear power who is bombing palestine. who'd have thought that he was actually smarter at geopolitics than some random person on social media.
  
  Oh hi again. Look up "Render Safe" in Military usage. It's also a general EOD term but buried in there, (the military doesn't like to advertise it but it's existence isn't classified), is a mission to track, and destroy or capture the entire nuclear arsenal of a target country. If Israel decides to play fuck fuck games the US military is ready and willing to give them the Find Out portion.
which accused the US president of straying from diplomatic norms.
Not "it's not true", just that it's not polite to say.
- A US President straying from diplomatic norms? How could that happen? 😱
Biden SLAMS Israeli leader that is openly hoping Biden will be displaced by Donald Trump.
Fuxed that for you all. He SLAMMED him. SLAM!
- Poetry slam, but no actions slam
- He got SLAMMED!!1!
Maybe stop sending him weapons then.
This is supposed to be the 2nd and final Nakba, annexing the entire Palestinian territory. With the goal of expanding Israel into Greater Israel. This goal will never end until the elimination and illegalization of Zionism. It doesn't matter what the U.S. politicians say. BDS is the only first step.
- Elimination and illegalization of Zionism? I'm not a Zionist by any stretch, but this is terrible thinking. You're gonna kill and arrest people for ideas in their head? My god, no thanks.
  
  Just like Nazism? Yeah, no thanks, right? derp.
I'm not an ecologist, but isn't destroying Gaza worse for the environment than rebuilding it?
Biden pretending to care.
Like a husband who hits a wife again and again and always say "next time I'll be better, believe me".
And then he hits again
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me
not news
biden has good brain days and bad brain days 😔
Hope this monster gets what he deserves 🥰

119 comments