Biden, Netanyahu talk amid Gaza crisis, calls for Israeli elections
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke Monday, their first interaction in more than a month, as the divide has grown between allies over the food crisis in Gaza and Israel’s conduct during the war, according to the White House.
The call comes after Republicans in Washington and Israeli officials were quick to express outrage after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., sharply criticized Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza and called for Israel to call new elections. They accused him of breaking the unwritten rule against interfering in a close ally’s electoral politics.
Biden hasn’t endorsed Schumer’s call for an election but said he thought he gave a “good speech” that reflected the concerns of many Americans.
The White House has been skeptical of Netanyahu’s plan of carrying out an operation in the southern city of Rafah, where about 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, as Israel looks to eliminate Hamas following Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack. Biden administration officials have warned that they would not support such an operation without the Israelis presenting a credible plan to ensure the safety of innocent Palestinian civilians.
Israel has yet to present such a plan, according to White House officials.
Netanyahu in a statement after the call made no direct mention of the tension.
“We discussed the latest developments in the war, including Israel’s commitment to achieving all of the war’s goals: eliminating Hamas, freeing all of our hostages and ensuring that Gaza never (again) constitutes a threat to Israel — while providing the necessary humanitarian aid that will assist in achieving these goals,” Netanyahu said.
The Biden-netanyahu call also comes as the United Nations food agency on Monday issued more dire warnings about the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
The World Food Program warned that “famine is imminent” in northern Gaza, where 70% of the remaining population is experiencing catastrophic hunger, and that a further escalation of the war could push around half of Gaza’s population to the brink of starvation.
Netanyahu lashed out against the American criticism Sunday, describing calls for a new election as “wholly inappropriate.”
Netanyahu told Fox News Channel that Israel never would have called for a new U.S. election after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and he denounced Schumer’s comments.
“We’re not a banana republic,” he said. “The people of Israel will choose when they will have elections, and who they’ll elect, and it’s not something that will be foisted on us.”
Biden after his State of the Union address this month was caught on a hot mic telling a Democratic ally that he has told Netanyahu they would have a “come to Jesus” meeting over the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. His frustration with Netanyahu’s prosecution of the war was also on display in a recent MSNBC interview, in which he asserted Netanyahu was “hurting Israel.”
“He has a right to defend Israel, a right to continue to pursue Hamas,” Biden said of Netanyahu in the MSNBC interview. “But he must, he must, he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken. He’s hurting ... in my view, he’s hurting Israel more than helping Israel.”
The president announced during his State of the Union address that the U.S. military would help establish a temporary pier aimed at boosting the amount of aid getting into the territory. The U.S. military has also been air-dropping aid into Gaza.
The Biden administration resorted to the unusual workarounds after months of appealing to Israel, a top recipient of military aid, to step up access and protection for trucks bearing humanitarian goods for Gaza.
The five-month war was triggered after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel in a surprise attack, rampaging through communities, killing some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and taking around 250 hostages.
Israel responded with one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history. The war has killed over 31,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Around 80% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have fled their homes, and a quarter of the population faces starvation.