US President Joe Biden’s problem with Israel: – There is no way out

New York (VG) The United States is Israel’s best friend. But friendship gives President Joe Biden more and more enemies.

From Norway’s perspective, it may appear as if the entire United States supports the war Israel is waging against Hamas in Gaza.

The Biden administration repeatedly said after the October 7 terrorist attack, “We have Israel’s back.” President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have traveled to Israel to show their support. At the United Nations, the United States contributed to the Security Council’s inability to adopt “humanitarian pauses” to the war.

Ostensibly, the United States stands with Israel. But within the United States there are significant, and sometimes violent, debates about the war.

The price of being Israel’s closest and most important ally is paid by Biden, who is running an election campaign to be able to continue as President of the United States.

This is America’s goal in the war

– The United States committed to supporting Israel. Now there’s no way out of this, says Aaron David Miller for VG.

Miller knows better than most what role the United States plays in Israel. He participated in its formation.

For more than 20 years, he was an advisor to the United States Secretaries of State and a negotiator on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Today, the historian and Middle East expert is frequently used as a commentator on CNN.

The United States has three goals in Israel and Gaza, according to Miller:

1. – The goal of the United States in the war is to support Israel. The United States must give Israel time, space, and support to do what it believes it must do against Hamas in Gaza. In addition, the United States is looking for ways to release the hostages, in negotiations with Qatar and Israel.
2. The second goal is to limit civilian casualties and bring in humanitarian aid. How can Hamas’ military capacity be eliminated without killing thousands of innocent Palestinians? Miller says that the United States has no better ideas than the Israelis.
3. The third goal is to avoid a major war. If Hezbollah entered the conflict fully, everything would be much worse. This could lead to Iranian attacks along the coast, in Syria and Iraq, and on American bases. If Americans are killed, the United States will have no choice but to intervene against Iran.

– How important is the economic and diplomatic support that the United States provides to Israel?

– It is decisive and decisive, Miller answers VG’s question.

So crucial that without it Israel would have had to end the war?

– no. But they would have been under much greater pressure. 120,000 Israelis have been transferred within Israel, and a large portion of their economy now goes to war.

A huge danger for Biden

The United States has supported Israel for decades, and that support has remained constant regardless of the president. With the largest Jewish population in the world outside of Israel, it is perhaps not surprising that a majority of the population says they sympathize with Israel.

But this picture is about to change:

• In a recent opinion poll he conducted NPR Marist 38% say they believe Israel has gone too far, an increase of 26 percentage points since the days after the Hamas attack.

• 55% of Americans disagree with the US handling of the war. Discontent is strongest among young voters.
• On campuses and major cities across the United States there are large protests against the war. Violence is increasing: a six-year-old Palestinian boy and a Jewish rabbi have been killed, and anti-Semitism is spreading in the United States.

Biden faces the risk of losing young voters in the elections Presidential elections next year due to Israeli support.

– Given what the polls look like now, Biden can’t afford to lose many votes, says Scott Buchanan, a political science professor at Georgia College and State University.

At the same time, Biden risks losing many like him.

The war in Gaza led to unrest within the Democratic Party. Far-left politicians describe Israel as an apartheid state and believe that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

It became known this week that more than 500 public servants in the Biden administration have done so I signed an anonymous letter They criticize the president’s handling of the war and demand a ceasefire in Gaza.

They don’t dare reveal their names for fear of losing their jobs – that’s how hot this war is here.

The hospital dilemma

What will happen to hospitals in Gaza is the most pressing question for the United States and Israel, says Middle East expert Miller.

US intelligence supports claims by the Israel Defense Forces that Hamas has its military command center under the largest hospital in Gaza, Al-Shifa Hospital, and that the Islamist group built tunnels under the hospital.

The evidence provided by the IDF is highly controversial.

– Biden said after the attack on Shifa: “Hospitals must be protected.” How far can he go in continuing to support Israel?

– The United States may have obstructed Israel, but I see no evidence that the Biden administration will end its support for Israel, Miller answers.

Biden believes that a ceasefire will only strengthen Hamas’ power. Instead, the United States requested a daily four-hour truce, to allow Gazans to flee from north to south. Israel had to accept this.

Middle East affairs expert Miller explains the official American view on this matter:

– Everyone is calling for a truce, but what is the benefit? If the conflict stops now, will this lead to the hostages being freed? Will the threat from Hamas disappear? The United States does not support a ceasefire, because that would give Hamas a massive victory.

Finally, VG asks what Miller thinks will happen in the next war:

– News will soon come that Hamas will release some hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel. After that there will be a break in the war for five or six days. Then there will be more war for several months. Then perhaps there will be a new agreement and a new short break. Perhaps sometime next year, we will come to a conclusion. Perhaps Gaza will regain the Palestinian Authority.

– This will be a cruel, bloody and long war, Miller concludes.