World
Biden’s frustrations with Netanyahu ‘meaningless’ without action: Analysts
Joe Biden is getting frustrated with Israel.
That is what unnamed sources have been telling media outlets in the United States, as the president faces widespread condemnation over his support for Israel’s war in Gaza.
But as Israel presses on with its military campaign, Biden is nearing “a breach” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, The Washington Post said on Sunday. And he has increasingly voiced anger towards the far-right Israeli leader, even calling him an a**hole on a few recent occasions, NBC News reported on Monday morning.
Yet, despite Biden’s supposed frustrations, analysts say the US president’s comments behind closed doors mean little if he remains unwilling to exert pressure on Israel to end its deadly military offensive in Gaza.
“For anyone with even a shred of conscience, Israel’s war should elicit frustration and anger. But in Biden’s case, it has not yet forced him to issue an absolutely necessary call for a ceasefire that can spare Palestinian lives,” said Imad Harb, the director of research and analysis at the Arab Cente Washington DC.
“Unfortunately, and despite the fact that the United States has many tools of pressure that it can use to change Israel’s policies and behavior, it is Israel that is in the driver’s seat,” he told Al Jazeera in an email.
Deadly Israeli attacks on Rafah
The reports about Biden’s growing frustrations with Netanyahu come as the United Nations and human rights groups have raised alarm over an expected Israeli ground offensive in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza.
Israel bombarded the densely populated city in the early hours of Monday, killing at least 67 Palestinians, including children.
Previously designated as a “safe zone” by Israel, Rafah is now home to more than 1.4 million people, many of whom are internally displaced from other parts of Gaza and have been sleeping in tents.
The strikes — which Israel said were carried out as part of an operation to free two Israeli captives — came less than 24 hours after Biden spoke with Netanyahu about the planned Rafah offensive.
The Israeli military operation should not proceed without “a credible and executable plan for ensuring the safety of and support for the more than one million people sheltering there”, Biden told the Israeli leader, according to a White House readout of Sunday’s talks.
📍#Gaza Rafah is one of the most densely populated places on earth. Families have been displaced many times.
There is panic & desperation as 1.4 million people try to survive, try to get food & water – at the same time fearing for their lives due to continued military operation. pic.twitter.com/BjXeEiAjLz
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) February 12, 2024
Tariq Kenney-Shawa, a US policy fellow at Palestinian think tank Al-Shabaka, said Biden’s call with Netanyahu “was a green light” for the deadly overnight bombings.
“Biden’s harsh words for Netanyahu, if he even really said them, are nothing more than words. At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is policy, and Biden’s policy has been unconditional support of Israel every step of the way,” Kenney-Shawa told Al Jazeera.
Iman Abid-Thompson, the director of advocacy and organising at the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, said Biden and his administration have been “cowardly” because they have voiced most of their criticisms behind the scenes.
Those criticisms, she said, “should be said at the forefront. They should be said out loud. They should be understood by the public and seen in formal statements.”
Abid-Thompson told Al Jazeera that Israel has been emboldened by the lack of pressure from the US, which provides the Israeli government with at least $3.8bn in military aid annually. She dismissed the idea that the US may be unable to rein in Israel’s military campaign.
“I think this idea of ‘What can we do?’ is just an absolute joke,” she said. “There is a lot to say about the lack of responsibility that the United States has taken in what has been happening to Palestinians, specifically by the Israeli government.”
Referring to Israel’s military campaign, she added: “We know that it’s only been upheld and it’s been strengthened because of the funding that the United States has provided unconditionally to Israel.”
Ways to exert pressure
Asked on Monday whether the Biden administration would consider cutting aid to Israel if it presses ahead with its plans in Rafah, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington “has pursued the policy that we think gives us the maximum ability to be successful in influencing how Israel conducts its military campaign”.
Miller told reporters that, “in many cases”, the administration has been unhappy with the results. But Washington has not assessed whether cutting aid “would be more impactful than the steps that we have already taken”, he said.
“I think that sometimes people pretend that the United States of America has a magic wand that it can wave to make any situation in the world roll out in exactly the way that we would want it to, and that is never the case,” Miller also said during the news conference.
“We use the tools that are available to try to influence policy.”
At a subsequent press conference, White House spokesman John Kirby echoed Miller’s stance. When asked if Biden had ever threatened to strip US military aid ahead of the anticipated Rafah offensive, he responded with a general statement of support for Israel.
“We’re going to continue to support Israel,” Kirby said. “They have a right to defend themselves against Hamas and we’re going to continue to make sure they have the tools and the capabilities to do that.”
But experts say the US could exert pressure on Israel by simply following its own laws. This includes applying the so-called Leahy Law, which prohibits the US government from providing military aid to foreign countries committing human rights abuses.
“Biden’s reported frustration is meaningless unless he ties it to concrete, tangible pressure on Netanyahu and the Israeli government as a whole,” said Kenney-Shawa. But, he added, Washington has instead “taken every step to minimise the cost of Israel’s assault”.
‘Moment of truth’
Since the Gaza war began, the Biden administration has approved weapons transfers to Israel despite concerns about alleged war crimes and the risk of genocide unfolding in the Palestinian territory.
It also has backed legislation that would provide more than $14bn in additional US security assistance to the country, refused to call for a long-term Gaza ceasefire and blocked attempts at the UN to end the war.
Raed Jarrar, the advocacy director at Democracy for the Arab World Now, a think tank in Washington, DC, said the administration “has failed miserably in managing the relationship” with Netanyahu.
But Washington can “redeem itself”, Jarrar told Al Jazeera, if it takes decisive action to prevent what he described as “the next chapter of genocide” in Gaza: the expected Israeli military offensive in Rafah.
“This week will actually be the moment of truth. What are they going to do when Netanyahu does not listen to them and goes ahead with the attack on Rafah? What are they going to do?” he asked.
“Are they going to continue the same failed policy, or are they going to switch to the only option that they should have considered all along, which is not aligning themselves with a genocidal maniac?”
World
Celine Dion Makes Triumphant Comeback at Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony — Watch Full Performance
ad
World
95 Libyan nationals arrested in South Africa at suspected secret military training camp
South African police arrested 95 Libyan nationals in a raid on a suspected secret military training camp on Friday and authorities said they were investigating whether there were more illegal bases in other parts of the country.
The camp was discovered at a farm in White River in the Mpumalanga province, about 360 kilometers (220 miles) northeast of Johannesburg, police said.
ELEPHANTS KILL TOURIST IN SOUTH AFRICA AFTER HE TRIED TO GET CLOSE TO TAKE PICTURES
National police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said in a post on the social media site X that the Libyans stated they had entered the country on study visas to train as security guards, but police investigations suggest they have received military training.
The Newzroom Afrika TV news channel broadcast pictures of the site of the arrests, showing a military-style camp with large green and khaki tents set up in a row. Dozens of men were seen lining up as they were arrested. They were wearing civilian clothing.
Local government official Jackie Macie said investigations were ongoing and the owner of the farm would be questioned. He said authorities received information that there were similar secret camps near two other towns in Mpumalanga province.
The province borders neighboring countries Mozambique and Swaziland and is an area of concern for South African authorities with regards to illegal immigration.
Police and authorities have not said whether the camps are suspected of being connected to a particular group or conflict.
Macie said investigations would establish if there was a network of camps in South Africa and show “why they are here doing military training in our country.”
Police said the men may be linked to crimes reported in communities close to the farm in recent months.
“We have serious cases which have been opened with the police, including cases of rape and armed robberies, which complainants claim were committed by unknown foreigners who seem to be of Asian descent,” said police spokesman Donald Mdhluli.
“We take what we have found here today very seriously because we don’t know who was training them, what were they being trained for and why that training is happening here in South Africa. It may be a threat not only to South Africa but also to the entire southern Africa region.”
Police said the operation to arrest the Libyans and close down the camp began two days ago. Macie said the Libyan nationals had been in the country since at least April.
“The 95 individuals taken into custody are all Libyan nationals and are currently being questioned by the relevant authorities,” Mpumalanga acting provincial police commissioner Maj. Gen. Zeph Mkhwanazi said in a statement.
Mdhluli, the police spokesman, said the country’s security regulator had confirmed that the kind of training that appears to have been taking place at the camp was well beyond the scope of training for security guards.
“The kind of equipment we found here shows that there was intense military training taking place here. This was basically a military base.”
World
Passengers face long, uncertain wait at stations amid rail disruption
A deliberate fire in a signal box about 60 km south of Lille caused the disruption on the northern high-speed line, with traffic halted around 5 a.m. local time on Friday.
Travel was severely disrupted in Lille on Friday, one of the stations affected by the sabotage that hit major French rail lines ahead of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.
Many passengers waited with hope that soon turned to resignation.
“We’ve been waiting since 10:38 a.m. for the 11:38 a.m. train, and now we’re just waiting for it to arrive at 2:08 p.m.,” said Delphine, one of the stranded passengers.
“It’s still quite a delay, and we’ll be even later since we’re on a secondary route. I work in Avignon at 9 p.m., so it’s going to be very, very tight. We have a concert tonight — will it even happen? This is all very confusing, and we don’t understand what’s going on.”
For one traveller, this was a rough start to the holidays. “The worst case would be if the train is cancelled entirely and we have to buy new tickets for next week. It would shorten our already brief vacation. That would be a huge problem,” said Hippolyte.
When asked if he had been informed of the delays, Hippolyte said he received the notification just before departure.
“At around 10 a.m. this morning, we were told we were an hour late and would be leaving at 1 p.m.”
“It just keeps getting later as the day goes on. Every time we approach the new departure time, it gets pushed back another hour and a half, or half an hour each time.”
A deliberate fire in a signal box about 60 km south of Lille caused the disruption on the northern high-speed line. Traffic was halted around 5 a.m. on Friday.
The recent acts of sabotage on the rail network highlight that the Olympic Games are turning France into a prime target.
The attack disrupted the transport system on the opening day of the Games, causing delays of up to two hours or even cancellations that affected hundreds of thousands of passengers nationwide.
Authorities in Paris have said they are deploying substantial human resources to counter any threats and to ensure the safety of the events.
-
World1 week ago
One dead after car crashes into restaurant in Paris
-
Midwest1 week ago
Michigan rep posts video response to Stephen Colbert's joke about his RNC speech: 'Touché'
-
News1 week ago
Video: Young Republicans on Why Their Party Isn’t Reaching Gen Z (And What They Can Do About It)
-
News1 week ago
In Milwaukee, Black Voters Struggle to Find a Home With Either Party
-
Politics1 week ago
Fox News Politics: The Call is Coming from Inside the House
-
Movie Reviews1 week ago
Movie Review: A new generation drives into the storm in rousing ‘Twisters’
-
News1 week ago
Video: J.D. Vance Accepts Vice-Presidential Nomination
-
World1 week ago
Trump to take RNC stage for first speech since assassination attempt