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The United States has submitted a draft resolution calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza to the United Nations Security Council, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday during a trip to the Middle East. The move, which would be conditioned on the release of hostages by Hamas, comes as President Joe Biden takes a more assertive posture against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose military response to the October 7 terror attack has killed at least 30,000 Palestinians and brought Gaza to the brink of famine. But it remains to be seen how much that shift in tone from the Biden administration comes with a substantial change in its policy, as underscored by an exchange between Blinken and Christiane Baissary of Al Hadath.
“Some may wonder how are you pressuring Israel [to adopt a ceasefire] while you are still continuing to support them financially and militarily, and even in the United Nations by vetoing any resolution that commits for an immediate ceasefire,” Bassairy said.
Blinken, pointing to the new ceasefire resolution the U.S. put before the U.N. Security Council, said that while the administration continues to support Israel’s “right to defend itself, to make sure that October 7th never happens again,” it is “imperative that the civilians who are in harm’s way and who are suffering so terribly—that we focus on them, that we make them a priority, protecting the civilians, getting them humanitarian assistance.”
“We’ve been leading the effort to do that,” Blinken said. “We are pressing on that as hard as we can.”
That pressure, as Baissary pointed out, has not seemingly had much of an effect on Netanyahu thus far. So, what will be different now, as the prime minister vows to expand his ground operation in Rafah, despite the Biden administration’s warnings?
Blinken didn’t have a clear answer. “We’ve had many, many clear, direct conversations over these months with Israel,” he said. “We have a long Relationship and friendship with Israel, just as we do with many partners in the Arab world. One of the hallmarks of friendship is the ability—indeed the necessity—to speak directly, to speak clearly, just as we did on Rafah but also as we’ve done on humanitarian assistance, and as we’ve continued to do on the need to have an enduring solution, including on a resolution with the Palestinians.”
Biden and his allies have indeed been speaking more clearly on the crisis. While the president has steadfastly supported Israel since Hamas’ terror attack last fall, he recently said that Netanyahu’s actions are “contrary to what Israel stands for” and that a major ground operation in Rafah would cross a “red line.” (Politico reported earlier this month that Biden would even consider conditioning military aid if Bibi forges ahead with a “large-scale invasion” of Rafah.) Meanwhile, in the Senate, several Democrats have called on Biden to halt weapons transfers if Israel continues impede humanitarian aid. And perhaps most notably: Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest ranking Jewish official in the U.S., recently described Netanyahu as a “major obstacle to peace” and called for a “new election” in Israel to remove him from power. “The Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “Nobody expects Prime Minister Netanyahu to do the things that must be done to break the cycle of violence, preserve Israel’s credibility on the world stage, and work toward a two-state solution.”
Biden praised Schumer, saying he’d made a “good speech.” But Netanyahu was, of course, furious, telling Republicans in a closed-door meeting Wednesday that the address was “wholly inappropriate and outrageous,” GOP Senator Josh Hawley recounted to the New York Times. “He was not happy” and vowed to stay the course in spite of mounting pressure from the president and his party, Hawley said. And Republican John Kennedy told the Times that Netanyahu “said that even if we have to go alone, we will not stop.” (Schumer rejected an offer by Netanyahu to meet with Democrats, saying the discussions should not be “partisan.”)
Biden, whose reelection bid has been complicated by his Israel policy, has so far hoped to steer Netanyahu from behind the scenes. But it seems clear, if it wasn’t already, that the only way the administration can influence Netanyahu’s approach is by “using our leverage to change the present course,” as Schumer called for in his speech last week. “The United States’ bond with Israel is unbreakable,” Schumer said. “But if extremists continue to unduly influence Israeli policy, then the administration should use the tools at its disposal to make sure our support for Israel is aligned with our broader goal of achieving long-term peace and stability in the region.”
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