Biden, Netanyahu on collision course after UN demands immediate ceasefire in Gaza

WASHINGTON — Relations between President Joseph R. Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sank to a wartime low on Monday with the US allowing passage of a Gaza ceasefire resolution at the United Nations and drawing a sharp rebuke from the Israeli leader.

Mr. Netanyahu abruptly scrapped a visit to Washington this week by a senior delegation to discuss Israel’s threatened offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah after the US abstained in a Security Council vote that demanded an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the release of all hostages held by the Palestinian militants.

The suspension of that meeting puts a major new obstacle in the way of efforts by the US, concerned about a deepening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, to get Mr. Netanyahu to consider alternatives to a ground invasion of Rafah, the last relatively safe haven for Palestinian civilians.

The threat of such an offensive has increased tensions between longtime allies the United States and Israel, and raised questions about whether the US might restrict military aid if Mr. Netanyahu defies Mr. Biden and presses ahead anyway.

“This shows that trust between the Biden administration and Netanyahu may be breaking down,” said Aaron

David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator for Republican and Democratic administrations. “If the crisis is not managed carefully, it’s only going to continue to worsen.”

Mr. Biden’s decision to abstain at the UN, coming after months of mostly adhering to longtime US policy of shielding Israel at the world body, appeared to reflect growing US frustration with the Israeli leader.

The president, running for re-election in November, faces pressure not just from America’s allies but from a growing number of fellow Democrats to rein in the Israeli military response to Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 cross-border rampage that Israel says killed 1,200 people.

Mr. Netanyahu confronts domestic challenges of his own, not least his far-right coalition members’ demands for a hard line against the Palestinians. He also must convince hostages’ families he is doing everything for their release while facing frequent protests calling for his resignation.

As Netanyahu’s office announced the cancellation of the visit, he said the failure of the US to veto the resolution was a “clear retreat” from its previous position and would hurt Israel’s war efforts.

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US officials said the Biden administration was perplexed by Israel’s decision and considered it an overreaction, insisting there had been no change in policy.

Washington had mostly avoided the word “ceasefire” earlier in the nearly six-month-old war in the Gaza Strip and had used its veto power at the UN to shield Israel as it retaliated against Hamas.

But as famine looms in Gaza and amid growing global pressure for a truce in the war that Palestinian health authorities say has killed some 32,000 Palestinians, the US abstained on a call for a ceasefire for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends in two weeks.

The challenge now for Biden and Netanyahu is to keep their differences from escalating out of control, analysts say.

Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, said there was no reason this should be a “mortal blow” to relations. “So I don’t think the door is closed to anything,” he said. —