Biden hitches Israel aid to less popular Ukraine war support

In a televised speech on Thursday evening, US President Joe Biden discussed his views on both the Hamas-Israeli conflict and Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

When Hamas invaded Israel from the Gaza Strip and Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine 22 months earlier, his conversation vividly described the atrocities meted out to human subjects of both problems.

Biden mentioned conversations with Egyptian leaders and the Palestinian Authority, which controls portions of the West Bank, and expressed love to Israeli civilians who were not affiliated with Hamas. He declared that because the US is the” beacon to the world ,” it is America’s responsibility to support Israel and Ukraine in their conflicts.

He supported the Polish effort to drive the Russians out of their nation. He did the same for Israel, but there was a distinction between Israel and Ukraine, which is evicting an armed party from country it has determined is not its own and that it does not wish to hold.

What happens, in essence, after the war is over? When the Israel-Hamas conflict, which is currently entering its second month, is over, Biden only briefly mentioned his own desire. He spent one sentence discussing his preferred result, adhering to the so-called two-state solution — i. e. the establishment of a Palestinian condition that includes Israel, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank.

We never abandon a two-state answer, he declared.

Since with least 1991, the United States has constantly favored this idea. Biden didn’t provide a plan for how to accomplish it.

The two-state option is opposed by Hamas, which was established during a Arab rising in 1987, while the Palestinian Authority accepts it. Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, even opposes it.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, has long opposed a two-state answer. Amir Cohen, Pool, and Asia Times Files

Throughout his whole social job, which includes five terms as prime minister, Netanyahu has opposed the two-state solution. The number of Israelis living in the West Bank has increased from about 115 000 to over 465 000 since Netanyahu second assumed power in 1993.

Israeli officials stated during Biden’s visit that until Hamas is vanquished, talks of a solution to the protracted Israeli issue must be postponed.

In any case, Biden appeared to be more focused on government in Washington than on achieving coming peace. He included a portion of his speech in which he pleaded with the US Congress to approve the combined congressional package of mutual aid for Israel and Ukraine.

Nearly no criticism is raised by help to Israel, but there is suspicion among Republican Party opposition politicians regarding the effectiveness and scope of assistance to Ukraine. Biden wants to use the Ukraine request to the common one for Israel in order to avoid a contentious conversation. & nbsp,

This discussion may seem insignificant, but the financial issue is what raises worries about not only US involvement in the current military conflict but also potential future ones in a world of intensifying conflict.

Additionally, both political parties view China’s alleged danger as a significant security concern. Biden had intended to carry out a so-called” pin to China” of defense solutions to fortify the threats of East Asia when he took office in 2020.

However, the US has promised to support Ukraine for as long as it takes to drive out the Russians in the interim. Israel, the Middle East’s most potent military power, is currently receiving lots of arms from it. Additionally, Biden has threatened to use force against Iran if it gets involved in the Hamas conflict.

Concern over the US’s ability to carry the burden of being what was once referred to as the” worlds police” has arisen as a result of rising global volatility.

A quarter-century of Pax-Americana, a period following the end of the Cold War in which only the US had the military might, resources, and determination to rule world politics, is also foreshadowed by literary and academic comment.

Recent articles with a funeral theme that focus on the decline of US influence and power have titles like” The Last Days of Pax Americana” and” Towards the End of Patx America.” as well as” The Pax American Death Throes.”

For worries have been dismissed by Biden. He even brought up the early post-Cold Revolution years, when US influence seemed endless, in addition to his statement that” America is a lighthouse.”

He cited the late Madeleine Albright, the hawkish secretary of state for President Bill Clinton, who called the US the” essential nation” when publicly defending a four-day US assault of then-bête noire Iraq.

In addition to supporting Israel, Biden’s brief journey was intended to influence how Israel conducts war in order to prevent harming residents. Biden claimed in a televised speech that he advised Netanyahu to adhere to the” laws of war” and not be” blinded by rage.”

There is a lack of sympathy for Palestinians in Israel; during Hamas’ foray into Israel, 1,400 Israelis were brutally murdered, many of them.

Biden’s two specific requests immediately came under fire. He declared that Israel do make sure that Egypt’s food and water supplies entered the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu had previously stated that he would forbid the entry of food and water into Gaza from the outside.

However, as soon as Biden appeared on television, Netanyahu and Iranian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi began arguing over who would inspect the shipment to make sure no arms were concealed inside.

Israel had warned Palestinians to abandon the northern Gaza neighborhoods before his visit in order to reduce the risk of fighting when Israel strikes back on the ground. Israelis did not protest the commands much, but international human rights activists argued that such behavior amounted to war crimes.

Both sides blamed the other for the deadly consequence of a medical attack in Gaza. Residents are involved in the war’s fire. Screengrab picture

Biden tried to separate the general populace from Hamas in a message to Israeli civilians by empathizing with their suffering. About 4,000 Palestinians have so far perished as a result of Jewish gun and missile fire. Hamas has not provided any information regarding the number of warriors among them.

Biden didn’t go into detail about how the Israelis and Palestinians would set up a two-state solution; he also left out who would be in charge of Gaza does Israel be successful in destroying Hamas, as Netanyahu has promised.

The confusion dates up to the US’s 2003 occupation of Iraq following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. At the time, US General David Petraeus, who oversaw US troops in northeastern Iraq, expressed concern over a lack of precision regarding the nation’s future.

He asked angrily,” Show me how this ends.” For Israel and the Palestinians, the same problem could be posed and should be addressed.