President Biden and other senior U.S. officials are becoming increasingly frustrated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rejection of most of the administration's recent requests related to the war in Gaza, four U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the issue told Axios.
Why it matters: Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack 100 days ago, Biden has given Israel his full backing, with unprecedented military and diplomatic support, even while taking a political hit from part of his base in an election year. That support has largely continued publicly, but behind the scenes, there are growing signs that Biden is losing his patience, the U.S. officials said.
- "The situation sucks and we are stuck. The president's patience is running out," one U.S. official told Axios.
- "At every juncture, Netanyahu has given Biden the finger," Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who has been in close contact with U.S. officials about the war, told Axios. "They are pleading with the Netanyahu coalition, but getting slapped in the face over and over again."
Behind the scenes: Biden hasn't spoken to Netanyahu in the 20 days since a tense Dec. 23 call, which a frustrated Biden ended with the words: "This conversation is over." They had spoken almost every other day in the first two months of the war.
- Before Biden hung up, Netanyahu had rejected his request that Israel release the Palestinian tax revenues it's withholding.
- National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby tried to downplay the decrease in communication, telling reporters on Wednesday that "it doesn't say anything" about the state of the relationship.
- But more and more signs of irritation are emerging. "There is immense frustration," a U.S. official said.
It has long been time to abandon the 🥕 and start using the stick.
Maybe old Joe will finally get the picture that you cannot work with a hostile authoritarian who is trying to preserve their political ambitions through warmongering. Better late than never I guess, but holy fuck how much more obvious can it get.
TBH Joe is one of those ancient democrats that was around since segregation and was on the wrong side of the issue. I really truly wanted to believe that he had changed, that him serving as VP under Barack Obama had meant something, but clearly he's still the same son of a bitch he was in his youth. I hope we get some real options in 2028 or I might be learning German and moving out of the US Shithole Country.
Already way ahead of you on that one chief 👍 I reached B2 this year and I've set my move date to July! You're welcome to join!
This election is a ticking time bomb imo. Both outcomes will probably end in chaos. I'll be glad to watch it and to cast my vote. Just from way over there, where I'm hopefully outside of the blast radius
Okay well America doesn't elect Israel's leadership, so we don't get to choose who we work with. Bibi is a real piece of shit but our military alliance with Israel, not Bibi, and Bibi is less of a hostile authoritarian than all of the Islamic fundamentalist leaders in charge of all the surrounding countries; those countries have zero chance of establishing lasting human rights. As a democracy, Israel just might.
Guess they got pissed though on October 7 when Hamas used Gaza City to launch 3,000 rockets at Israel and then launch an invasion that killed 1,200 people in mass shootings.