Biden turns on Bibi after months of pressure: A 30-year friendship critical to Israel’s diplomatic and military links to the U.S. hits boiling point as Joe rejects Netanyahu’s Gaza plan and condemns his governments lurch to the right

In the days following the Hamas attack on Israel, Joe Biden flew to Tel Aviv, where he hugged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a very public show of support.

For weeks afterward, he spoke of their decades-long friendship, even as Western allies began to express reservations about the bombs raining down on Gaza in a wave of destruction.

That all changed on Tuesday when Biden made public criticism of Israel for the first time in a hint that criticism from the left of his own party and international warnings of an impending humanitarian catastrophe had caught up with him.

He delivered a public message that Netanyahu and his hardline government had to change course if they wanted to maintain international support for their attack on a terrorist group that killed at least 1,200 Israelis.

“They are starting to lose that support due to indiscriminate bombings,” he told a gathering of donors.

The message sent shockwaves through Israel.

“There is a tremendous amount of anger,” said Aryeh Lightstone, chief adviser to Trump's ambassador to Israel. He described the words as “very inappropriate.”

But it may have been less surprising to White House Kremlinologists, who had been studying recent statements to see if the administration was changing course.

Vice President Kamala Harris used a speech 10 days ago in Dubai to issue the strongest demand yet that Israel adhere to international humanitarian law.

“Too many innocent Palestinians have been murdered,” she said. “Frankly, the extent of civilian suffering and the images and videos from Gaza are devastating.”

On the same day, Biden's Defense Secretary warned that Israel's campaign could backfire by radicalizing a new generation of Hamas recruits.

“In these types of battles, the center of gravity is the civilian population,” Lloyd Austin said. “And if you drive them into the arms of the enemy, you replace tactical victory with strategic defeat.”

The approach seemed to put an end to the classic good cop/bad cop school of international diplomacy. Biden's lieutenants were tasked with issuing warnings as the president continued to issue warm messages of support.

That approach was no surprise to those who knew Biden well or had seen him work as Barack Obama's vice president.

In fact, Biden has repeatedly touted his success in using a friendly approach and a long personal relationship to influence Netanyahu. (On Monday, he said they had been friends for 51 years.)

For example, he said privately that when he was vice president during Israel's 2014 attack on Gaza, he advised his then-boss that the best way to deal with the Israelis was to hug them close rather than publicly insult them. criticize.

“If these had been the Obama years, we would have been much more critical publicly than we are now,” said a senior administration official. NBC News recent.

“And that wouldn't work. We wouldn't have the influence.'

When questioned about the approach, officials said it is paying off.

They pointed to the government's success in securing humanitarian aid in Gaza and freeing hostages by getting Israel to agree to a pause in the fighting, despite concerns that it could allow Hamas to rearm.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters last month: “The approach we're taking with Israel and, frankly, with our partners in the region, is working.

'It ensures that help gets to people who need it. There will be a lull in the fighting. It gets hostages out. It takes Americans out.”

The approach angered some parts of the government.

Hundreds of federal employees signed an open letter demanding the Biden administration push for a ceasefire, and dozens of State Department diplomats sent official dissents.

That would not have been enough to change policy for a president who has built many of his warm ties with Israeli politicians over the years.

His relationship with Netanyahu dates back to the early 1980s, when Biden was a young senator and the future Israeli prime minister worked at the country's embassy in Washington.

Both stayed close to the center of power. And their families posed together during a visit in 2011, when Biden was vice president and Netanyahu was prime minister.

But their relationship was under severe pressure under Obama, who tried to bring Iran out of diplomatic isolation.

At the same time, government officials were outspoken in their criticism of Israeli settlement building in the occupied West Bank, which was seen as undermining any chance of ultimately achieving a two-state solution.

One official made clear his hostility toward the Israeli prime minister, calling him “a chicken***” in comments published in The Atlantic.

But even then, Biden made his warmth toward Netanyahu clear.

“We're still friends,” Biden said at the time, using the prime minister's nickname. 'He's been a friend for over thirty years. I said, 'Bibi, I don't agree with what you're saying at all, but I love you.'

He turned to the same form of words at the donor meeting on Tuesday, after criticizing Netanyahu's government for moving to the right. He claimed that he wrote those words on a photo he once gave to the Israeli prime minister.

“Today it's about the same,” he said.

Whether it is a principled stand based on the rising death toll in Gaza, or a simple reminder to Israel that it must keep international opinion on its side, or a short-term political consideration as its polls take a hit among younger voters more sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, Biden clearly thinks a little space is good for the relationship.