US President Joe Biden is increasingly admitting that he is unable to influence Israel’s military conduct, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing two unnamed White House officials.
Biden and his aides were “repeatedly frustrated” by Israel’s war in Gaza, especially by the large death toll among Palestinian civilians, the report said. It added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ignored US advice.
“As his influence over Netanyahu shrunk, the president’s anger grew,” Politico wrote. It cited unnamed officials as saying that phone calls between Biden and Netanyahu have “increasingly turned into shouting matches.”
The dynamic illustrates “an acknowledgement” that Biden may be unable to prevent a “regional war” in the Middle East, the magazine said. This has forced Biden to settle for “limiting Israel’s response rather than discourage it entirely.”
The report came out a day after Israel launched ground raids against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The operation, coupled with intense airstrikes, is aimed at stopping cross-border rocket and mortar attacks by Hezbollah, the IDF said.
On Wednesday, Iran fired nearly 200 missiles at Israel, insisting that it was responding to “genocide” in Gaza and Lebanon, as well as the the assassinations of senior “Palestinian resistance” figures, including Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The US voiced support for Israel’s right to defend itself, while urging it to show restraint when retaliating against Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah.
Biden has defied calls from pro-Palestinian groups and some Democrats at home to stop supplying Israel with weapons, even after the UN repeatedly accused the IDF of indiscriminate attacks on civilians. Meanwhile, Washington’s efforts to mediate a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza have failed.
Politico initially reported that the US had quietly approved Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon, despite publicly urging the Jewish state to seek a ceasefire with Hezbollah. In its follow-up report on Wednesday, however, Politico claimed that Israel did not warn the US in advance about “the specifics” of its strikes, which supposedly angered the White House.
On Wednesday, Biden told reporters that he would not support Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. Israel did not reveal the nature or scope of its planned retaliation, but some hardliners, including former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, have urged the government to target Iran’s nuclear program.
Russia has strongly criticized Washington’s approach to the Middle East. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said it shows “the inability of the US to resolve crises.”