“This incident and the call between Biden and Bibi may represent an important shift in the order of priorities, with civilian protection and humanitarian aid rising higher,” said Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, a Washington think tank, using Mr. Netanyahu’s nickname. “But it remains to be seen what effect this will have. We have to see how this all unfolds in the next few weeks.”
The extent of American influence on Israel’s conduct of the war is complicated. Mr. Biden has repeatedly defended Israel’s right to respond to the Hamas terrorist attack that killed an estimated 1,200 people on Oct. 7. But with the reported death toll in Gaza topping 32,000, Mr. Biden in recent weeks increasingly complained that Israel’s military operation has been “over the top,” as he once termed it.
He has particularly warned Israel against sending troops into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than one million refugees are sheltering from the war, without a credible plan to protect civilians. Mr. Netanyahu has unabashedly defied Mr. Biden in public, declaring that he planned to move against Rafah to pursue Hamas leaders regardless of American pressure. But some two months have passed and he has not done so yet, pending further consultations with Americans.
Khaled Elgindy, a former adviser to Palestinian leaders in past peace talks with Israelis, said Mr. Biden’s shift was notable if belated. “The tone of the president’s statement is definitely more terse and stern than what we’ve heard before,” he said. The linkage between U.S. policy and Israeli changes “is very different from what we regularly hear” from Biden administration officials about not telling a sovereign state what to do.
“Well, it seems we are telling them what to do now,” Mr. Elgindy said. “That said, it’s not clear exactly what the ‘or else’ will be. Will they actually withhold military aid? I have my doubts. Might they allow a more forceful cease-fire resolution” at the United Nations Security Council? “Possibly.”
Kaynak: briturkish.com