Israel and US have major credibility problem as Gaza crisis goes from bad to catastrophic
In a testy exchange earlier this month, a senior US official warned Israeli counterparts of the reputational “damage” as a result of the ongoing war in Gaza. The internal memo of the exchange involving assistant secretary of state Bill Russo, obtained by NPR, offered yet another illustration of the rift between the Biden administration and Israel, driven by growing American horror at the humanitarian toll of the conflict and Israel’s role in making it worse – even as the US shields Israel in international forums and helps replenish its war machine.
According to NPR, Russo said in his call on March 13 that Israel – and the US, as Israel’s security guarantor and close ally – faces a “major credibility problem” because of the war, the Palestinian death toll, the manmade famine gripping ravaged areas of the Gaza Strip, and growing global frustration with Israel’s insistence on prolonging the war to fully eradicate militant group Hamas.
“The Israelis seemed oblivious to the fact that they are facing major, possibly generational, damage to their reputation not just in the region but elsewhere in the world,” the memo said. “We are concerned that the Israelis are missing the forest for the trees and are making a major strategic error in writing off their reputation damage.”
Russo’s Israeli interlocutor scoffed at the claim, suggesting anger at Israel is more prevalent online and on social media platforms such as TikTok than in the real world, according to the memo. That view is consistent with current Israeli rejections of outside criticism, including recent assertions that it’s not contravening international law by restricting the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres spoke to reporters at the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. “People around the world are outraged about the horrors we are all witnessing in real time,” he said of the plight of Palestinians in Gaza. “I carry the voices of the vast majority of the world: We have seen enough. We have heard enough.”
Israeli officials remain unmoved. As his UN counterparts reiterated calls for an immediate ceasefire and the deeper goal of a two-state solution, Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the body, spoke instead of the need to impose a vague programme of “deradicalisation” on the entire Palestinian population.
He said the majority of Palestinians don’t want peace and likened them to Germans coming out of the Third Reich.
Yesterday, the UN Security Council demanded a ceasefire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, its first call to halt fighting. The resolution passed 14-0 after the US decided not to use its veto power and instead abstained on the resolution, which also demanded the release of all hostages taken captive during Hamas’ October 7 attack Israel.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately cancelled a planned visit to Washington by a high-level delegation to protest the decision.
The UN Security Council had failed previously due to a series of US vetoes, and last week had also failed when the Biden administration put forward its own draft resolution that stopped short of actually demanding a ceasefire but invoked the “imperative” of achieving one. Russia and China vetoed that attempt, which was supported by 11 countries in the 15-member state body.
Despite yesterday’s developments, US officials still find themselves in an uncomfortable bind. They have been carrying water on the world stage for an increasingly isolated, unpopular Israeli government, while fitfully trying behind the scenes to cajole right-wing Netanyahu down a different path.
Netanyahu has dug in his heels and recently rebuffed requests from US secretary of state Antony Blinken to reconsider a looming military offensive on Rafah. All the while, world leaders elsewhere, even allies, are scolding the US for its complicity in the ongoing crisis.
“When I travel the world, leaders often ask me why the Irish have so much empathy for the Palestinian people,” Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said at a joint appearance at the White House with Biden on St Patrick’s Day.
“The answer is simple: We see our history in their eyes. A story of displacement and dispossession, a national identity questioned and denied, forced emigration, discrimination and now hunger.”
The Washington Post reported last week that “the administration has sought to pressure Israel to work toward a weeks-long ceasefire, enabling a massive surge in aid, without going so far as to halt weapons deliveries for it to continue its war against Hamas”. The contradiction is becoming untenable and leading to more pronounced divisions within the Biden administration.
“The humanitarian situation is literally intolerable – it’s a blight on the consciousness of humanity,” one White House adviser told The Post. “It’s the humanitarian situation that has tipped us over the line into open confrontation with the Israelis.”
In Washington, a group of 17 Democratic senators attempted to ratchet up the pressure on Israel, calling on the Biden administration to reject Israeli claims that it is not violating international law by restricting humanitarian aid. Their intervention came at a moment of growing debate within some circles in Washington about suspending arms transfers to the Israeli government.
“I don’t see how anybody could possibly determine the situation within Gaza right now suggests there is an acceptable humanitarian delivery system and it’s pretty clear that the restrictions that have been imposed by the Netanyahu government are the main contributor to the humanitarian crisis there,” senator Chris van Hollen told The Post.
Separately, human rights groups Oxfam and Human Rights Watch issued a joint report last week documenting alleged Israeli transgressions in impeding the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. They called on the Biden administration to adhere to US law and suspend arms transfers.
“There are good reasons why US law prohibits arms support for governments that block life-saving aid or violate international law with US weapons,” Sarah Yager, Washington director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. (© Washington Post)