“There is every reason for people” to conclude that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is dragging out Israel’s war against Hamas, according to President Joe Biden.
Israel’s war against Hamas and both leaders’ domestic political landscapes have appeared to erode Netanyahu and Biden’s decadeslong relationship, though the president’s recent remarks to Time magazine provide new insight into how the U.S. president sees his Israeli counterpart.
“There is every reason for people to draw that conclusion,” Biden said when asked whether Netanyahu is prolonging the war for his own political self-preservation after saying he wouldn’t comment. “And I would cite that as — before the war began, the blowback he was getting from the Israeli military for wanting to change the court. And so it’s an internal domestic debate that seems to have no consequence. And whether he would change his position or not, it’s hard to say, but it has not been helpful.”
Netanyahu, as Biden referenced, is facing a difficult crossroads at home in which ultranationalist members of his governing coalition are threatening to collapse the government if the current ceasefire proposal, which would secure the release of the hostages over time and phases, is agreed upon and enacted.
Biden’s remarks to Time came days before his public announcement of the latest ceasefire proposal, which the United States is optimistic will bring a halt to the war and allow for planning for the complete cessation of the war.
The three-phase plan would begin with a six-week ceasefire and the return of women, children, and other vulnerable hostages Hamas is holding, the release of “hundreds” of Palestinian prisoners, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from populated areas of Gaza, and the surging of humanitarian aid into the strip for civilians.
The U.S. and several other countries and international aid workers could more easily and safely get aid to Palestinians during a cessation of fighting. About 200 humanitarian workers have been killed during the conflict, while all of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents are facing acute food insecurity.
The proposal does not include exact details for what the second phase would include, but the plan is that many of these details will be negotiated during the first phase. Though it would include the release of all remaining living Israeli hostages and the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza “as long as Hamas lives up to its commitments,” the president said last week.
Biden’s characterization of the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza prompted questions of whether Netanyahu had agreed to a deal that would end the war before they achieved their war objectives.
“The claims that we have agreed to a ceasefire without our conditions being met are incorrect,” Netanyahu told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, according to his office.
On Monday, Biden spoke with Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani of Qatar, and the president “confirmed Israel’s readiness to move forward with the terms that have now been offered to Hamas.” He urged al Thani “to use all appropriate measures to secure Hamas’ acceptance of the deal and affirmed that Hamas is now the only obstacle to a complete ceasefire and relief for the people of Gaza.”
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The U.S. is also working on a historic normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia, though they view it as a long-term pathway to peace in the region. The deal, which had been in the works before the Oct. 7 attack and was shelved, is a part of the Biden administration’s long-term plan for once the war is over. The Saudis have now said any deal would have to include a path toward Palestinian statehood, which is a stance the president shares.
The ceasefire proposal that Hamas is considering could wind up being the start of Netanyahu’s fall from power but also lead to the return of the hostages, the end of the war, and historic normalization efforts with Israel’s neighbors.