Biden and Netanyahu have finally talked, but their visions still clash for ending Israel-Hamas war
WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally spoke Friday after a glaring nearly four-week break in direct communications that highlighted fundamental differences over a possible path to a Palestinian state once the fighting ends. end up in Gaza.
Biden and his top aides have all but smothered Netanyahu with strong support even in the face of global condemnation over rising civilian casualties and humanitarian suffering in Gaza, as Israelis have carried out military operations in the aftermath of the October 7 attack on Gaza. Israel.
But the relationship between the leaders is increasingly showing signs of strain as Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected Biden’s calls for Palestinian sovereignty, listing what the US president believes is the key to unlocking lasting peace in the Middle East – the often quoted, elusive two: state solution.
Neither side shows signs of blossoming.
Friday’s call came a day after Netanyahu said he had told US officials in clear terms that he will not support a Palestinian state as part of any post-war plan. For his part, Biden reaffirmed in Friday’s call his commitment to working to help the Palestinians move toward statehood.
“When we talk about post-conflict Gaza… you can’t do that without also talking about the aspirations of the Palestinian people and what that should look like for them,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
The leaders spoke frequently in the first weeks of the war. But regular talks between Biden and Netanyahu, who have had a hot-and-cold relationship for more than three decades, have slowed significantly. Their 30- to 40-minute phone call on Friday was their first conversation since December 23.
Both parties are hemmed in by domestic political considerations.
The rift between Biden, a center-left Democrat, and Netanyahu, who leads the most conservative government in Israel’s history, has widened as pressure mounts on the United States to use its considerable power to pressure Israel into a deal. to end a war that has already caused fatalities. almost 25,000 Palestinians.
There is also growing impatience among Netanyahu in Israel over the lack of progress in freeing dozens of hostages still held by Islamist militants in Gaza.
“There is certainly reason to be concerned,” said Eytan Gilboa, an expert on US-Israeli relations at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University. “The more and more we see political considerations dominate the relationship between Biden and Netanyahu, which will likely lead to If we continue due to the upcoming presidential elections and the weakness of both leaders, we will see them increasingly pulled apart.”
In their latest calls, Biden’s frustration with Netanyahu has become clearer, even as the US leader has reaffirmed his support for Israel every step of the way, according to US officials who requested anonymity to discuss the leaders’ private interactions.
Yet Biden, at least publicly, has not given up on the idea of winning over Netanyahu. Asked by a reporter Friday whether a two-state solution is impossible while Netanyahu is in power, Biden replied: “No, it is not.”
Aides insist Biden understands the political framework Netanyahu finds himself in with his far-right coalition and as he faces persistent corruption allegations that have left the prime minister fighting for his freedom, not just his political future.
Biden, meanwhile, faces American voters in November, in a likely rematch with former President Donald Trump. Netanyahu and Trump forged a close relationship during the Republican’s term in office. Biden is facing criticism from some on his left who say he has not pressed Israelis hard enough to show restraint in carrying out military operations.
Key Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, warned this week that Netanyahu’s position on the state could complicate Senate negotiations on a spending package that includes military aid to Israel.
Expect Netanyahu to “use every trick he has to keep his coalition together and avoid elections and run out the clock,” said Michael Koplow, head of policy at the Israel Policy Forum. “And I’m sure part of that is the belief that if he waits until November, he might end up back in the Oval Office with Donald Trump.”
In recent weeks, some of the tougher conversations have been left to Ron Dermer, a top Netanyahu aide and former Israeli ambassador to the US, and Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan. The two top aides talk almost daily — sometimes several times a day, according to a U.S. and an Israeli official, who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Other senior Biden administration officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, as well as senior advisers Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein, have spearheaded the administration’s push to push the Israelis and other allies out of the involving the Middle East. -The Netanyahu dialogue has become less constructive.
Netanyahu, who has resisted calls for a two-state solution throughout his political career, told reporters this week that he bluntly told U.S. officials that he remains opposed to any post-war plan that includes the creation of a Palestinian state.
The prime minister’s latest rejection of Biden’s effort in that direction came after Blinken said at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week that Israel and its Middle Eastern neighbors had “a profound opportunity” to end the generational Israeli-Palestinian conflict to solve. Asked if he thought Netanyahu would make the most of the moment, Blinken responded.
“Look, these are decisions that the Israelis have to make,” Blinken said. “This is a profound decision that the country as a whole must make: which direction does it want to go? Does it see – can it seize the opportunity we think is there?”
The relationship between Biden and Netanyahu has had no shortage of peaks and valleys over the years. As vice president, Biden privately criticized Netanyahu after the Israeli leader embarrassed President Barack Obama by approving the construction of 1,600 new apartments in disputed East Jerusalem in the middle of Biden’s 2010 visit to Israel.
Netanyahu publicly opposed Biden’s call for the Israelis to scale down a May 2021 military operation in Gaza before ultimately relenting. And in late 2019, during a question and answer session with campaign voters, Biden called Netanyahu a “far-right” leader.
The path to a two-state solution — one in which Israel could coexist with an independent Palestinian state — has eluded American presidents and Middle Eastern diplomats for decades.
But as the war continues, Biden and his team have emphasized the idea that there is a new dynamic in the Middle East, in which Israel’s Arab and Muslim neighbors are ready to integrate Israel into the region once the war is over , but only if Israel commits to a path to a Palestinian state.
Biden has proposed that a “revitalized” Palestinian Authority based in the West Bank could govern Gaza once the fighting is over. Netanyahu has roundly rejected the idea of putting the corruption-ridden Palestinian Authority in charge of the area.
Netanyahu argues that a Palestinian state would become a springboard for attacks on Israel. Israel must therefore have “security control over the entire area west of the Jordan,” Netanyahu said. “That clashes with the idea of sovereignty. What can we do?”
White House officials should downplay Netanyahu’s public rejection of Biden’s call for a two-state solution, noting that the prime minister’s rhetoric is not new.
They hope that Israel can eventually accept a Palestinian state that provides strong security guarantees for Israel.
“I don’t think Biden has any illusions about Netanyahu,” said Daniel Kurtzer, who served as U.S. ambassador to Egypt during Bill Clinton’s administration and to Israel under George W. Bush. the door pointed at him. And that’s because he gets the intersection between policy and politics.
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AP writers Julia Frankel in Jerusalem and Ellen Knickmeyer, Seung Min Kim and Colleen Long in Washington contributed reporting.