Chicago – April 08, 2024
President Joe Biden threatened on PM Netanyahu after the killing of international aid workers to condition support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza on it taking concrete steps to protect aid workers and civilians, seeking for the first time to leverage U.S. aid to influence Israeli military behavior.
Biden’s warning, relayed in a call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, followed a deadly Israeli attack on World Central Kitchen aid workers that spurred new calls from Biden’s fellow Democrats to place conditions on U.S. aid to Israel. Israel said the attack was a mistake.
It is important to mention that what the major news outlets have been reporting since February about a permanent ceasefire, was a false rhetoric. The President has advocated minimal civilian and international aid workers’ casualties. His threat doesn’t include a ceasefire clause or to stop Israel’s six month long war on ‘Hamas’.
The U.S. president, a lifelong supporter of Israel, has resisted pressure to withhold aid or halt the shipment of weapons to the country. His warning marked the first time he has threatened to potentially condition aid, a development that could change the dynamic of the nearly six-month-old war.
Biden “made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers,” the White House said of the leaders’ phone call. It said the call lasted about 30 minutes.
The president “made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps,” the White House said in a statement.
Washington is Israel’s top weapons supplier and the Biden administration has mostly provided a diplomatic shield for it at the United Nations.
At a briefing after the call, White House spokesperson John Kirby declined to elaborate on any specific changes the U.S. would make in its policy toward Israel and Gaza.
