Netanyahu snaps back against growing US criticism after being accused of losing his way on Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu railed Sunday against growing criticism from top ally the United States against his leadership amid the devastating war with Hamas, describing calls for a new election as “wholly inappropriate.”
In recent days, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the country and a strong Israel supporter, called on Israel to hold a new election, saying Netanyahu had “lost his way.” President Joe Biden expressed support for Schumer’s “good speech,” and earlier accused Netanyahu of hurting Israel because of the huge civilian death toll in Gaza.
Netanyahu told Fox News that Israel never would have called for a new U.S. election after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, and denounced Schumer’s comments as inappropriate.
“We’re not a banana republic,” he said. “The people of Israel will choose when they will have elections, and who they’ll elect, and it’s not something that will be foisted on us.”
I still remember Netanyahu bitching about Obama in front of the US Congress. He'll call anyone on their bullshit but doesn't like it when he's called on his.
Would be great if Biden returned the favor
Best we can do is a bear hug.
And he was best buddies with Trump
But for some reason people that claim to be pro Palestine very often seem to be anti biden...
It's not a zero sum game - you can simultaneously be against both Trump and Biden regarding their Israel policy.
That said, I do agree that a lot of people don't realize that Trump is even more hawkish in his support for Israel than Biden is, and actively contributed to the rising tensions between Israel and Hamas during his administration. So when it comes to Israel, as surprising as it might be to some, Biden is in fact the lesser of two evils there.
This isn't Trump or Biden's policy - it's US policy and has been since the 70s.
Yes that's true to a large extent, but a President does have some executive power in terms of leverage and how they choose to engage diplomatically with Israel:
Reagan famously threatened to cut off aid funding during the Lebanon War, which lead to a withdrawal of Israeli troops.
Obama was very critical of settlements in the West Bank and his administration chose not to veto the UN resolution condemning then.
Trump's administration was very supportive of Israel, officially recognized Jerusalem as it's capital, and also brokered the Abraham Accords.
So yeah, you're right in that the US government as whole has more or less guaranteed to ultimately support Israel no matter what, the President can still have an effect by themselves.
Maybe because Biden is the current president whose administration is giving weapons to Israel and is a Zionist himself?