- cross-posted to:
- worldnews@lemmit.online
- cross-posted to:
- worldnews@lemmit.online
President Biden and other senior U.S. officials are becoming increasingly frustrated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rejection of most of the administration’s recent requests related to the war in Gaza, four U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the issue told Axios.
Why it matters: Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack 100 days ago, Biden has given Israel his full backing, with unprecedented military and diplomatic support, even while taking a political hit from part of his base in an election year. That support has largely continued publicly, but behind the scenes, there are growing signs that Biden is losing his patience, the U.S. officials said.
- “The situation sucks and we are stuck. The president’s patience is running out,” one U.S. official told Axios.
- “At every juncture, Netanyahu has given Biden the finger,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who has been in close contact with U.S. officials about the war, told Axios. “They are pleading with the Netanyahu coalition, but getting slapped in the face over and over again.”
Behind the scenes: Biden hasn’t spoken to Netanyahu in the 20 days since a tense Dec. 23 call, which a frustrated Biden ended with the words: “This conversation is over.” They had spoken almost every other day in the first two months of the war.
- Before Biden hung up, Netanyahu had rejected his request that Israel release the Palestinian tax revenues it’s withholding.
- National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby tried to downplay the decrease in communication, telling reporters on Wednesday that “it doesn’t say anything” about the state of the relationship.
- But more and more signs of irritation are emerging. “There is immense frustration,” a U.S. official said.
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It has long been time to abandon the 🥕 and start using the stick.
Maybe old Joe will finally get the picture that you cannot work with a hostile authoritarian who is trying to preserve their political ambitions through warmongering. Better late than never I guess, but holy fuck how much more obvious can it get.
TBH Joe is one of those ancient democrats that was around since segregation and was on the wrong side of the issue. I really truly wanted to believe that he had changed, that him serving as VP under Barack Obama had meant something, but clearly he’s still the same son of a bitch he was in his youth. I hope we get some real options in 2028 or I might be learning German and moving out of the US Shithole Country.
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I might be learning German and moving out of the US Shithole Country.
Already way ahead of you on that one chief 👍 I reached B2 this year and I’ve set my move date to July! You’re welcome to join!
This election is a ticking time bomb imo. Both outcomes will probably end in chaos. I’ll be glad to watch it and to cast my vote. Just from way over there, where I’m hopefully outside of the blast radius
Okay well America doesn’t elect Israel’s leadership, so we don’t get to choose who we work with. Bibi is a real piece of shit but our military alliance with Israel, not Bibi, and Bibi is less of a hostile authoritarian than all of the Islamic fundamentalist leaders in charge of all the surrounding countries; those countries have zero chance of establishing lasting human rights. As a democracy, Israel just might.
Guess they got pissed though on October 7 when Hamas used Gaza City to launch 3,000 rockets at Israel and then launch an invasion that killed 1,200 people in mass shootings.
Its fully within his power to pull 100% of the money Israel receives from the US and cut off all access to weapons. He has chosen not to.
It sure it. But then, the most powerful kingmaker in the US is AIPAC, if they withdraw their support of Biden, he will struggle in the presidential race.
Then the risk of a xenophobic wannabe dictator getting elected is put on the otherside of the scale.
So if you look at this from a purely US point of view. The tradeoff is brown people half a world away die, vs the US becoming trumplandia with all the vengeance he has promised to bestow on his political rivals.
So if it was your choice, what would you chose?
Edit to clarify: yes it’s bizarre US allows PACs, corporations should not be treated as people, the situation is FUBAR.
Almost like money needs to get taken out of politics but not like those who use it to keep their people in power will let that happen
Our views align on the solution and the hurdles.
It saddens me that there is no young version of Senator Sanders, he would be good for the US.
Money will never be taken out of politics. It’s the fundamental motivation for politics. No one is out there arguing for anything other than money. If you ask anyone if they want to be ecological and ethical they will say they are being so.
Now ask if the consequences is their livelihood and changing what they know. They will fight tooth and nail.
We have a fight based on two sides. But don’t think it’s only morally based. Both sides have financial consequences they are considering while fighting.
I vote for no one needlessly dying anywhere.
If Trump wins a lot of people will die, just like last time.
More people have died, lost their homes, lost their cars, lost wages, a lot more loss in general under Biden. If you dont want trump then you better start pushing for party to primary Biden
I’d ask you for a source on this nonsense but then who are we kidding right?
Not that it matters, liberals will deny facts in the face of evidence when the blue fascists do it
Elderly are becoming the fastest growing segment of the unhoused
Food bank usage at record highs
Biden’s approach to dealing with COVID (mirrored after DeSantis’ version) has led to more needless death. And this isnt even counting the 10s of thousands of Palestinian deaths he’s allowing to happen.
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Unemployment when Trump left office - 6.3%
Unemployment today- 3.7%
Seems to me like more people with jobs means less people losing those things under Biden.
Their feelings are more valid than your facts… I couldn’t believe I was hearing such non sense from senior Republicans but they were right about their base.
the unemployment statistic only counts people who file for unemployment, and in 2020, a lot of us were able to pull $1200 a week with no look-for-work requirement.
i don’t think this is a fair comparison.
Do you have numbers showing that the levels of unemployed people not filing was dramatically different? If not, then this is meaninhless fud.
Unemployment level is meaningless if there’s no livable wage. Taking 1 full time job and creating 2 part-time is not job growth, and that’s exactly what’s been happening. How many of those shitty no benefit jobs are being held by one person?
You tell me. You’re clearly the expert here.
The banks and the rich are squeezing every dime they can out of American working class, but the probable GOP nominee is the absolute wrong way to curb it.
Remember for example when he stole medical supplies and gave them to his criminal friends, who could then resell them for a higher price? During a pandemic…
Sure, I would too if it where in the table as an option. But alas, it seems it is not. I would venture a guess to say that the Biden administration would also take that option if it where available… But it seems to be a quagmire of unreasonable actors.
Biden’s approval rating is 33%. AIPAC is of no consequence here - no incumbent in the history of US Federal elections has ever won with such abysmal polls in an election year. Not once, ever. Biden isn’t going to magically make history here, and his ego telling him he has to do 2 terms instead of allowing for a primary election so democracy can play out is the reason why.
Then he has the audacity to claim democracy is on the line this year. It’s already gone, America is just in denial about it.
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Yeah me too
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The only saving grace is that Trump is also a uniquely unpopular political figure.
But his opponent is also unprecedentedly unpopular, so we’re basically in uncharted electoral territory such that the past isn’t necessarily a good guide to the future.
Anyone who says they know how this all plays out is either a liar or in denial.
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Can’t expect them to fight their esteemed colleagues on the other side of the aisle in Washington for things like the basic human decency of healthcare for our people, or to win an election. But if there’s one thing everyone in DC can agree on, it’s that everything wrong is the fault of the leftists! (This is of course despite leftists having virtually 0 power in this regressive, conservative capitalist dystopia in which we live).
People are going to look back in AIPAC and wonder… how AI got a political action committee before chatgtp 6.0 passed the Turning test.
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Israel wasn’t popular with the other countries in the region before October, most of it’s neighbors have called for it’s destruction, US support is basically what keeps them in check.
Israel is not popular in the region BECAUSE of the US.
False. Israel isn’t popular in the region because of israel.
Israel is not popular in the region because the others are extremely antisemitic. Let’s stop pretending like the others are saints, please?
Im no historian but i figured Israel wasn’t popular in the region because the country of irael used to be the country of Palestine until another country decided to put israel there. I bet Egypt hated having a lot of its territory held for a long time as well after that one war but like i said I’m no history doctor
There’s never been a country of Palestine, but you’re right about not being a historian…
There’s never been a country of Palestine
damn, really? Why did something like a million people get displaced when israels borders for drawn in 1950 or whatever? I can’t remember the details. Why did all those people get forced from their homes?
Because they chose war rather than the deal the ruling power offered is the short answer.
Many of those people also left willingly at the direction of the Arab Nations surrounding Israel with the understanding they’d get to return after Israel lost the war. That obviously didn’t happen because Israel won the wars.
Many were also just kicked out because this new nation had just been attacked and they wanted control over the disputed lands that they had won. It’s not a clean situation but nation building rarely is.
Nearly one million Jews were also kicked out of their homes in the surrounding Arab Nations.
An old Zionist lie, conflate opposition to zionism with antisemitism
Nah the Houthis do seem pretty antisemitic, straight up.
You are trying to conflate antisemitism with being antizionist, perpetuating the Zionist lie
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slogan_of_the_Houthi_movement
“God Is the Greatest, Death to America, Death to Israel, A Curse Upon the Jews, Victory to Islam”
Why exactly do they explicitly refer to Israel and “the Jews” separately if their issue is with Zionist Israel?
And then Al-Houthi had this to say through his fascicles: “Arab countries and all Islamic countries will not be safe from Jews except through their eradication and the elimination of their entity.”
You know what helps Zionists? Not condemning actual antisemitism, because it lets them continue the lie that anti Zionism is the same as anti semitism.
Unless, of course, you have a good explanation for how wishing a curse on Jews, distinctly from death to Israel, isn’t antisemitic?
A new Antisemitic lie, conflate Jewish people’s desire to exist with Zionism.
More like the US is not popular in the region because of Israel.
Israel isn’t popular because the region wants a Pan Arabian state and having a Jewish one right in the middle doesn’t allow them the caliphate they’re going for.
That’s not how government appropriations work.
The money to Israel is NOT appropriations, it comes from the Foreign Military Financing Fund which is 100% allocated by the President. The President decides who and how much of that money goes to what counties and organizations.
That’s a very limited part of the support. Most of the money is allocated as I understand by Congress either directly to Israel, allocated to DoD or State Dept. who the. use their own budgets and programs to provide diplomatic and military support, sometimes jointly, of which Congress has oversight, and then through a number of statutory procedures, including the one you cited, which is basically lend-lease financing and grants. I don’t know the details of how it works but the President absolutely does not do as you’ve described. Even the limited authorizations and limited funding controlled by the White House has statutory procedures.
Good. Maybe this can be the turning point away from the US’s bootlicking support of Israel. Fuck Bibi and his genocidal goons.
If they’re not careful, there’s a risk he might furrow his brow while handing over the next billion dollars worth of cluster bombs
Maybe he’ll threaten to rein him in after the election
Biden is going to lose an election over it. Let’s try sanctions against Israel instead of, maybe, you know, giving them billions in military aid that’s being used to kill toddlers.
They liked hummus though so it was justified
I want to say you’re wrong, but the left is dumb enough to pull off getting Trump elected.
Trump didn’t win an election. Hillary lost one. It’s astounding how good they are at throwing.
It’s fucking terrifying seeing this play out again right in front of our faces. Honestly, if we elect Trump again, our Republic doesn’t deserve to survive.
I agree with you, but God damn, I hate that I thought that the last time.
We have to fight tooth and nail against Trump. We have to fight tooth and nail and the Israeli genocide, but also against Trump.
Democrats really are their own worst enemy. At every opportunity, they do everything in their power to alienate their voting base.
Given, republicans hurt their voters all the time, and even more egregiously. But they lie about it and spin it as a win to their voters, who eat it up. Democrats are hilariously bad at championing their wins, and seem to put their failures on display instead.
Democrats do not have the equivalent of Fox News on their side. A lot of people think they do, but they are ignorant. It’s an objective fact that there is no Democratic equivalent to Fox News, OANN, NewsMax, Sinclair or right wing talk radio. There just isn’t. Nor do I think there ever could be given that the Democratic party is really a collection of very disparate political views whose only real common cause is opposition to what the insane GOP has turned into.
The left didn’t want Biden in the first place, they wanted Sanders, but the democrats pulled all the stops in 2020 to get Biden as the nominee and they insisted that this was for everyone’s good.
How large do you think the American left is? Because if it was large enough to deliver a presidency to Trump, Biden would actually be listening to them. When polled about prospective third parties more respondents wanted a party to the right of the Republicans than wanted one to the left of the Democrats. You’re setting up a Boogeyman that doesn’t exist so you can shift rightwards after you lose for being too far right. You blame leftists because you don’t want to realize you’re moving too far right for Democrats.
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They want trump to win almost as much as they want biden to win. If trump wins, that’s another 4+ years that they can run on their “at least we’re not literal nazis” platform. Same reason they continually fuck over Bernie and buy ads for trump and his ilk
It’s crickets when politicians propose giving billions of American taxpayer money and weapons to Israel, year after year. It has never been a better time to stop fucking doing that for good.
More finger wagging, no action.
I didn’t know Israel was even handling Palestinian tax revenues. Gives a clear picture of just how much of a stranglehold that Israel has on Palestine, but I suppose it should’ve been obvious since I already knew they controlled food, water, and pretty much everything going in and out of Palestine.
“Biden realizes his polling numbers are falling and decides to do damage control”.
Israel is not going to be a winning issue in terms of poll numbers.
Every issue is a winning (or losing) issue in presidential elections. There’s far too many factors to assume any one thing can’t sway the tide.
Hillary made that mistake in 2016.
No, my point is that Biden will lose more voters than he gains on Israel if he changes course. Most of the US is still overwhelmingly pro-Israel despite the genocide on display.
I absolutely think he should drop Israel like a hot potato, but not for domestic strategic reasons. It’ll damage his poll numbers, not help them.
I don’t think so? Republicans won’t vote for him either way, and among Democrats support for Palestine has already overtaken support for Israel AFAIK. Biden’s current stance is losing him young voters like crazy.
and among Democrats support for Palestine has already overtaken support for Israel AFAIK.
Compare support for continued Israeli aid, not support for Palestine. Lots of people claim support for Palestine, yet support continued aid to Israel. If you have something to the contrary, unironically, I’d love to see it. It’d be a rare bright light in these dark times.
Biden’s current stance is losing him young voters like crazy.
As a young voter, we generally don’t turn out in the requisite numbers.
Lots of people claim support for Palestine, yet support continued aid to Israel.
Oh I see.
If you have something to the contrary, unironically, I’d love to see it.
It’s not exactly what you’re looking for, but there.
we generally don’t turn out in the requisite numbers.
Yes, which is why Trump won in 2016. And change in that trend is how Biden won in 2020. Which is why if Biden can’t secure those votes he’ll lose in 2024. It could be a lose-lose situation, but from that perspective it seems like Biden is digging his own grave.
A significant minority of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters (36%) disapprove of his handling of the war.
Like, don’t get me wrong, I would love if public sentiment turns against the war in Israel, but right now, it’s just… not.
Yes, which is why Trump won in 2016. And change in that trend is how Biden won in 2020. Which is why if Biden can’t secure those votes he’ll lose in 2024. It could be a lose-lose situation, but from that perspective it seems like Biden is digging his own grave.
I rather think this issue is a lose-lose situation in terms of losing voters. Which is one of the reasons I think it’s even more important that Biden take steps away from support of Israel - if you’re gonna lose voters either way, might as well make the decision that is both moral and strategically better for America.
As a young voter, we generally don’t turn out in the requisite numbers.
And yet, we’re blamed for HRC losing. So which is it?
I mean, for HRC’s loss the margin was razor-thin, but realistically it was due to her ignoring several states in favor of running up the margins in Cali to make her eventual win look more ‘legitimate’.
Huzzah electoral college. /s
I believe the electoral college is blamed for HRC losing. Sure, it wasn’t the only factor, but it’s a pretty big deal that you can win the popular vote and still lose the election.
And if Trump gets elected because those youngsters don’t vote… I guess they’ll learn the hard way that elections have consequences. How insignificant the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will seem if Trump becomes the first dictator in US history.
Make better choices in the primary Boomer. Stop electing procorporate trash candidates.
It would have been a game-changing political realignment if Bernie had won the primary instead of Hilary. He could have beat Trump in 2016, soaking up a lot of the populist and working class vote in the Rust Belt, and the trajectory of US politics would have been very different.
Alas, that didn’t happen and a lot of left-leaning people stayed home rather than vote for Hilary. This is a longstanding problem in the Democratic party. Right-wingers always go out and vote Republican, no matter the candidate. Whereas, the left is fickle. Hilary may have been a typical corpo politician, but she was still better than Trump. Even if all she did was make some some incremental progress on public health care and appointed some reasonable SC judges, the US would be a better place right now. Instead, the whole world is facing the possibility of a Trump dictatorship.
Centrists are just going to have to accept that they can’t get everything they want at all times, even if it means they don’t get to support genocide anymore.
If they’re mad because Biden stops supporting genocide, it’s because they’re russian troll children astroturfer shill bots who don’t know how anything works and want Trump to win. Pro-genocide centrist Democrats need to stop being such purity ponies. They need to grow up, shut up, and vote blue no matter who. After all, voting is a chess move, not a love letter.
Sauce for the goose.
There may be many factors but to just throw your hands up and say every issue is equally important is just plain foolish.
It’s a matter of what factors get activated enough for it to be a leading one. If Noone was talking about the border and instead the discussion would be about something else… the “something else” would be a major factor, not the border. Maga extremists are pushing the border narrative hard and pivot to it each appearance they have. Hence its an important issue… in what snippets I see flying past… its border security and finances on one side… Trump lawsuits and Ukraine on the other. Israel comes up less frequently.
The media and public debate play a big role in what factors get activated for it to be decisive.
Or he is disgusted with how Netanyahu is waging genocide. The U.S. can’t just say “alright Israel, you’re on your own” because it would possibly lead to a nuclear conflict between Israel and Iran. Shit would get out of hand real fast when the militants try to storm Israel thinking it’s go time. I hate Netanyahu as much as I hate Khamenei and Hamas
It’s never bothered him before.
I’m sure it did. Dude wouldn’t hire a bunch of people sympathetic to the Palestinians if he hated Palestine. It’s a fragile relationship to balance and abandoning Israel outright would have some severe global consequences
So we should just sacrifice millions to the whims of that murderous bastard because he’s politically useful?
It’s politically useful? No the fuck it isn’t politically useful. It’s a major divisive topic in politics today. You can underestimate the threat Iran poses to regional security and international trade all day and night, but you also lose the ability to bitch and moan about the cost of living when their actions directly implicate those things.
Israel also has a chance to overcome the far right shitstain that is Netanyahu and his supporters and elect a leader who would be committed to reforming relations with the PA. Iran is making it nearly impossible to do so (which is their plan) but it is possible. You can blame Israel for this 100% but Iran shares an equal part of the blame for supporting terrorists across the region
The U.S. can’t just say “alright Israel, you’re on your own” because it would possibly lead to a nuclear conflict between Israel and Iran.
As if Iran can’t possibly be responsible for it’s own actions.
If Iran wants to invade that’s a problem with Iran, not the US.
Iran wouldn’t invade. They’d use their proxies abroad to stage an assault, and Israel may escalate without the U.S. holding it back by striking Iran directly
Ive given up on humanity.
I favor nuking everyone.
Oh, no. A politician doing what the people want in order to save his job.
That’s how it’s supposed to work. It’s better than the usual m.o. where the politician does whatever they want and screw the people. Yes, it would be nice if they did what you want from the get-go, but I will vote for the one that changes their stance due to popular pressure over one that “sticks to their guns” no matter who it’s hurting.
(I’m speaking in generalities here. Obviously Biden hasn’t changed his stance yet.)
Except he’s not doing what the people want. He’s doing what Israel wants and then making a big show out of being frustrated they aren’t doing what he wants. For all we know, he’s told them to not worry about what he’s saying, he’s just trying to win back support to avoid losing the election.
He could cut off the aid or add conditions to it at any time. Or even just not veto UN resolutions.
I agree. Please read my last sentence.
The statement, however, indicated that they were more annoyed that a politician would change their stance because of poling numbers rather than because it’s the right thing to do. My point is that our political system is designed for just that. Politicians have always done what is best for themselves, and expecting different from any politician is naive. Our system is deliberately designed to allow people to put pressure on politicians to (try to) keep them from sacrificing the people they are supposed to govern for their own gain.
I was talking more to the general sentiment of the statement, not to these specific circumstances. Don’t blame a politician for bowing to political pressure from the people. That’s what they’re supposed to do to keep your vote. Allow them to change their policy, even if they don’t change their stance. Instead, blame the ones that double-down on harmful decisions because they don’t want to appear “weak.”
This is all theoretical, of course. Recent elections have shown that too many people are willing to be sacrificed to allow those in charge to appear “strong.”
That’s not what’s happening at all. If anything it’s the opposite and the Biden people are being much harder on Netanyahu behind closed doors than in public. All of the reputable reporting and analysis indicates this.
If the military aid valve is still fully open, I’m going to take any suggestion that he’s trying his hardest behind closed doors with a grain of salt. He’s got three levers that should have big impacts: access to purchase weapons, the money being used to buy those weapons, and the military support to discourage the other regional powers from stepping in.
It all makes me wonder what levers Israel is pulling on the leaders of the West.
At every juncture, Netanyahu has given Biden the finger
*Surprised Pikachu face
Racist people never care about anyone, once he is done with Palestinians, you can be sure he will go after someone else
Patience is not something he should have ever had with Netanyahu. An enemy to mankind should be our enemy, full stop. If Israel cannot stop and contain itself then the rest of the world needs to step in and handle it for them.
Our alliance is with Israel, not Netanyahu, and our policy in the region is one based on centuries, not months. Based on tens of millions of lives, not tens of thousands.
Thats a real concavebrain response right there.
No.
Oil.
They can keep it, we should have shifted away from nonrenewable a lot sooner.
100 days of genocide. He sleeps.
Bibi is just waiting and hoping for Trump.
It isn’t too late for Biden to turn things around here. Refuse to send more aid unless Netanyahu can ensure it won’t kill innocent people, and make him do a little dance too.
Like always, Bibi is putting politics above all else.
How does Iran factor into your equation?
Right? How is this not common knowledge? Putin is doing the same thing. Do people on Lemmy not follow the news?
Just give them another 50yrs. I’m sure they can resolve peace. But continue to ship missiles to Isreal
It’s funny. We’re running out of patience with Biden.
Americans shouldn’t run out of patience with Biden. When the election comes, they might reelect Trump and that would be a catastrophe.
Maybe that’s what Netanyahu wants?
Considering that Trump overturned decades of consensus on both the US right and left in order to appease Israel by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital, I’m sure that Bibi would love a second Trump term. Especially since he’s openly expressed his disdain for Democrats and solidarity with Republicans.
Exactly.
Americans shouldn’t run out of patience with Biden.
People shouldn’t have voted for Biden in the 2020 primaries. That was a stupid shitty thing to do.
That’s the only right answer. Pete Buttigieg would have been a far better candidate in my opinion.
And your point is? We can’t change the past, all we can do is try to make a better future. It sounds like you just want to give up because you didn’t get your way in 2020. That’s pretty childish.
Centerists like you will never say it’s the right time to have this conversation. You keep electing procorporate trash and then acting like everybody you fuck over in the process owes your garbage candidate their vote. It’s not fooling anybody. You know exactly what you did in the primaries. You made this bed now lie in it. If you need our votes in the future make better choices in the primaries. Simple as that.
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