Joe Biden said there was “good reason” to conclude that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was prolonging the war in Gaza for his own political self-preservation.
Biden made the remarks about the Israeli prime minister in an interview with Time magazine published on Tuesday morning, drawing a harsh response from the Israeli government, which accused the US president of straying from diplomatic norms.
Netanyahu’s popularity has plummeted since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks that exposed serious flaws in Israel’s security. Most political commentators say if elections were held now, Netanyahu would lose and fall into the opposition as he faces court hearings on corruption charges. But elections have been postponed until the war is over, or at least until major military operations are deemed completed.
Time magazine asked Biden whether he thought Netanyahu was “prolonging the war for his own political self-preservation.”
“I’m not going to comment on that,” the president said, but added, “There are good reasons for people to draw that conclusion.”
He went to discuss some of the domestic political issues facing Prime Minister Netanyahu before the war.
Asked if he wanted to clarify Biden’s response, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said: “I think the president has been very clear on that. I’ll let the prime minister speak about his own politics. The president was addressing what many of his critics have been saying.”
In response, Israeli government spokesman David Mensah said Biden’s comments about Netanyahu and Israeli politics were “out of line with the diplomatic norms of all right-minded nations.”
During the wide-ranging interview, Biden was also asked about allegations that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza, which are being investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), to which he gave a vague response.
“The answer is uncertain and is being investigated by the Israelis themselves,” he said. “The ICC is something we do not recognise. But one thing is certain: the people of Gaza, the Palestinians, have suffered greatly from lack of food, water, medicines and so on. And many innocent people have been killed.”
Biden also pointed out that Hamas bears responsibility for the bloodshed in Israel and Gaza.
He was asked specifically about whether Israel is “using civilian starvation as a weapon of war,” an accusation pursued by International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan.
“No, I don’t think so,” Biden said, but then added, “I do think they engaged in inappropriate activity.”
During a visit to Israel following the Oct. 7 attacks, Biden told Netanyahu’s government “please don’t repeat the mistakes that we made.” [Osama] “Bin Laden. The idea of occupying Afghanistan, the idea that there were nuclear weapons in Iraq, that was simply not true. And it led to endless wars. Let’s not repeat the mistakes that we made.”
But Biden concluded that Israel has indeed “made that mistake.”
