Biden, Netanyahu dispute over the Gaza war heats up
President says prime minister ‘hurting’ Israel
A day after President Biden asserted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “hurting Israel more than helping Israel,” Netanyahu dismissed that contention as “wrong,” escalating the leaders’ increasingly public dispute.
Netanyahu, in an interview with Politico, challenged Biden’s assessment of Israel’s military strategy in the Gaza Strip, saying that his policies represented the “overwhelming majority” of Israelis.
“I don’t know exactly what the president meant, but if he meant by that that I’m pursuing private policies against the majority, the wish of the majority of Israelis, and that this is hurting the interests of Israel, then he’s wrong on both counts,” Netanyahu told Politico. An excerpt from the interview was released by the prime minister’s office.
The Israeli leader was responding to comments Biden made Saturday in an interview with MSNBC that was also to be aired Sunday night. Biden rebuked Netanyahu over the rising civilian death toll in Gaza, even as he reaffirmed US support for Israel.
“He has a right to defend Israel, a right to continue to pursue Hamas, but he must, he must, he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken,” Biden said.
“In my view, he’s hurting Israel more than helping Israel,” Biden said, appearing to refer to Netanyahu’s military strategy. “It’s contrary to what Israel stands for, and I think it’s a big mistake. So I want to see a cease-fire.”
The sparring comes amid a mounting humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with the United Nations and aid agencies warning of looming famine in the besieged enclave of 2.2 million.
Health officials in Gaza reported that at least 25 people, most of them children, had died from malnutrition and dehydration in recent days.
On Sunday, the US military said an Army vessel, the General Frank S. Besson, had set sail a day earlier from a base near Norfolk, Va., and was carrying equipment to build a floating pier off Gaza’s coast to allow for aid deliveries. “Besson, a logistics support vessel, is carrying the first equipment to establish a temporary pier to deliver vital humanitarian supplies,” the military said.
But the Pentagon has said the project could take weeks to complete.
Nearly 60,000 pregnant women in the enclave are malnourished, dehydrated, and lack proper health care, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which has said that about 5,000 women have been giving birth monthly in “harsh, unsafe, and unhealthy conditions as a result of bombardment and displacement.”
The Biden administration’s plan for a pier and causeway, announced last week, could eventually help deliver as many as 2 million meals a day for residents of Gaza.
Some humanitarian officials have criticized the approach, saying that delivering aid by truck is far more efficient.
US officials acknowledge that deliveries by sea — as well as airdrops — are not as effective as overland ones, but Israel has greatly limited aid entry into Gaza.
The Pentagon said that one of the main military units involved in the construction of the floating pier will be the Army’s Seventh Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary), and that about 1,000 US service members will work to complete it.
The Israeli military will help coordinate the installation of the pier, a spokesperson for the Israeli military said Saturday. Shipments will be inspected by Israeli troops before they are handed off to the aid groups that will distribute the supplies, he said.