Joe Biden, an old and loyal friend of Israel, quickly responded to the tragedy of October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists from the Palestinian territory of Gaza massacred around 1,200 people in southern Israel. It wasn't just the raison d'être of Israel – protecting Jews – that was threatened. It also made apparent, in Europe and the United States, and particularly among Jewish communities, that the "never again" was fragile.
Biden was one of the first Western leaders to visit Jerusalem to express his solidarity. This gesture also corresponded to a political posture: He believed that being close to Israel was important to influence its government's decisions. Over the past year, the American president has not failed his Israeli ally. Washington's military and diplomatic support has been constant, at a time when anti-Semitism, in Europe even more than in the US, is once again rearing its ugly Gorgon head.
Yet Biden, with his low voice and measured words, does not hide a certain bitterness. He feels that he hasn't been reciprocated, which he expressed in a long interview with CNN's Erin Burnett in early May. In its fight against the Islamic Republic of Iran and its Arab affiliates – Hamas, Hezbollah and Iraqi militias – Israel has been dependent on the US. However, while the US delivered the munitions, Biden still found himself in the exact situation he didn't want. His Israeli partner, Benjamin Netanyahu, has consistently disregarded the White House's requests.
The White House, faced with the number of Gazans killed by American bombs, called on Israel to show restraint back in November. In vain: The death toll from the almost daily bombardment of Gaza to date stands at approximately 42,000, according to Hamas's health ministry. Israel claims that 13,000 to 17,000 of those killed were militants of the Palestinian Islamist movement, with the rest being civilians. By winter, Biden wanted to discuss the post-Hamas future of the Palestinian territory. In vain: Netanyahu was not interested in the subject. The prime minister, threatened with impeachment by the hardliners in his government if he stops the war, continues to call for "total victory" over Hamas, without defining it. A form of eternal war? Despite pressure from the US to prioritize negotiating a ceasefire to release the hostages, Netanyahu has, for the most part, refused to do so.
Biden tried to encourage the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. In vain: much to Washington's dismay, the Netanyahu team is continuing to increase the number of settlements in the West Bank and openly expressing its desire to annex this other Palestinian territory. Biden did not want to regionalize or "widen" the war. He did not wish to find himself in direct confrontation with Iran. However, the aggressions of Lebanon's Hezbollah and the nature of Israel's response put the US in this position.
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