US President Joe Biden effectively gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an ultimatum on Thursday: protect Palestinian civilians and foreign aid workers in Gaza or Washington could rein in support for Israel in its war against Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
The message, after months of US calls for Israel to change its military tactics that have killed tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians, followed an Israeli attack that killed seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers and triggered global outrage.
Israel claims the strike – which targeted the WCK convoy thrice – was a mistake.
The White House did not say exactly what steps it wanted Netanyahu to take, nor what it would do if he failed to take them. But analysts said the implicit threat was to slow US arms transfers to Israel or to temper US support at the UN. “This is as close to a ‘come to Jesus’ moment as you can get,” said analyst Steven Cook of the Council on Foreign Relations think tank, referring to Biden’s comment last month that he and Netanyahu were heading for such a turning point.
Dennis Ross, a veteran US diplomat now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy said, “The president, in effect, is saying meet these humanitarian needs or I will have no choice but to condition (military) assistance.”
