Harsha Kakar Confusion prevails in the US on how exactly to manage the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict. This is compounded by forthcoming elections where Biden faces Donald Trump. Trump has largely maintained his silence on the conflict, though his leanings towards Israel is well established, letting Biden face public anger.
It has become fashionable, especially amongst western youth, to support the weak, in this case the Palestinians, ignoring that they fired the first bullet. Their logic is unprecedented deaths due to Israel’s employment of disproportionate firepower. The difficulty for the Biden administration is that they are desperate to hold onto Muslim-American, African-Americans as also Jewish votes, while engaging with Israel.
In a CNN interview in early May, Biden mentioned that his administration will not supply ammunition to Israel in case it launches a major offensive on Rafah. Subsequently, the US paused delivery of bombs to Israel. He mentioned, ‘we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells.
’ Biden hoped this would resonate with his Muslim-American as also antisemitism voters. Once Israel attacked Rafah, the US Secretary of State commented, ‘Rafah killings did not cross red line and (US) would not change its policy.’ A day prior to his CNN interview, addressing a holocaust event in Washington, Biden mentioned, ‘They are already forgetting that Hamas unleashed this terror.
It was Hamas that brutalized Israelis. It was Hamas who continue .
