Disagreement is not unexpected

The latest statements by the US President and the Israeli Prime Minister show differences in views on the current conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Các tòa nhà bị phá hủy bởi những cuộc không kích của Israel trong trại Jabalia dành cho người tị nạn Palestine ở thành phố Gaza, ngày 11/11. (Nguồn: Getty)

Buildings destroyed by Israeli air strikes in the Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in Gaza City. (Source: Getty)

On December 12, speaking to Democratic Party donors in Washington, US President Joe Biden called the Israeli government "the most conservative government in the history of Israel", calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to change his approach.

The White House chief warned that support for the Jewish state’s military campaign was waning amid the devastation in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, President Joe Biden added that Israel “does not want a two-state solution.” According to him, the Jewish state still “has the support of most of the world,” but “it’s slowly eroding: because of the massive “bombing.”

Speaking just hours before Joe Biden’s announcement, Prime Minister Netanyahu acknowledged that he had differences with the US President on the post-conflict Gaza Strip, but said he “hopefully we will reach an agreement on this issue.”

The comments were among the most candid yet on the longstanding differences between Israel and the United States. Even before the conflict erupted following the Hamas attack on October 7, President Joe Biden was outspoken in his criticism of Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, which includes far-right parties. But Biden has largely stood shoulder to shoulder with Netanyahu in public since the conflict began, despite growing public controversy over Israel’s campaign.

Meanwhile, in an interview with CNN (USA) last month, Prime Minister Netanyahu said he was thinking about “some form of Palestinian civil government”, even if it was something that was “reconstructed”. However, on December 12, he said: “I want to make my position clear: I will not allow Israel to repeat the mistake of Oslo” and declared: “Gaza will not belong to Hamas or Fatah”.

The “Oslo” that Netanyahu was referring to was the 1993 Oslo Accords, an agreement between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabbin and Palestinian President Yasser, brokered and signed at Camp David (USA) under the mediation of then-host President Bill Clinton. The agreement helped form the Palestinian Authority (PA), which took partial control over the West Bank and Gaza.

Netanyahu’s statement also referred to Fatah, the largest Palestinian political force, which played a key role in negotiating and signing the Oslo Accords and controlling the PA for the next three decades. However, the PA was “ousted” from Gaza by Hamas after the 2007 elections.

Thus, Israel does not want to hand over control of the Gaza Strip to Hamas or the Fatah-controlled PA. Meanwhile, Washington has declared its rejection of any proposal that includes Israeli control of Gaza and warned against narrowing the boundaries of Palestinian territory. At the same time, the US has left open the possibility of building a Palestinian state, with the PA continuing to govern the Gaza Strip after the conflict ends.

Perhaps the current state of US-Israel relations was more or less reflected in Mr. Biden’s speech at the White House reception on the occasion of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah on December 11. Recalling his 51-year relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the US President told of the words he wrote on an old photo of the two, calling the Israeli leader by the affectionate nickname “Bibi”.

“I wrote at the top of the photo: ‘Bibi, I love you very much, but I do not agree with anything you just said,’ and it is still the same today,” he said.

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