US President Joe Biden walked back his speculative comment that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be prolonging the Gaza war for political gain.
He paused at the end of a press statement at the White House on illegal immigration from Mexico on Tuesday night, when asked about the comment he had made on the matter last week during an interview with Time magazine.
Reporters had shot out dozens of simultaneous questions at him, but he answered only one, “Is Prime Minister Netanyahu playing politics with the war?”
Biden slowly answered, “I don’t think so. He is trying to work out a serious problem he has.” Then he walked away and refused any follow-up questions.
Biden's interview with Time
Time asked him on May 28 whether he believed Netanyahu was prolonging the war.
At first, Biden said, “I’m not going to comment on that.” But then he added, “There is every reason for people to draw that conclusion,” as he pointed to the internal strife that existed in Israel before the start of the Gaza war on October 7, in which Israel was mired in a massive political debate over judicial reform legislation.
Biden appeared to indicate that Netanyahu could be seen as prolonging the war because he did not want to return to that situation of political division. His interview with Time, however, took place before the President on May 31 unveiled an Israeli proposal for a three-phase hostage deal that attempted to bridge the differences between its stance, and that of Hamas.
The President, however, also underscored that Netanyahu very much wanted to conclude a hostage deal and that Hamas was largely responsible for the absence of one.
“Hamas could end this tomorrow,” Biden said, as he added that “the last offer Israel made was very generous in terms of who they’d be willing to release, what they’d give in return, et cetera.” His statement referred to the Hamas demand that Israel free Palestinian security prisoners and terrorists held in its jails.
Netanyahu is “under enormous pressure on the hostages, so he’s prepared to do about anything to get the hostages back,” Biden said.
His interview with Time was published on Tuesday, as the deal has raised the risk that it would collapse Netanyahu’s coalition, underscoring the high price the Prime Minister would have to pay for a military rather – than a diplomatic – solution.
Two of Netanyahu’s far-right political partners, Otzma Yehudit and the Religious Zionist Party, threatened to bolt if Israel were to pledge to end the war as part of a hostage deal.
The deal itself only deals with the possibility of a permanent ceasefire in the second phase, but National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who heads Otzma Yehudit, has charged that there are secret parts of the deal that have not been shared with the public.
Biden’s statement about Netanyahu was picked up by the media, as it appeared to highlight the Israeli Prime Minister’s political dilemma.
It also echoed the sentiments expressed by many relatives of the remaining 124 hostages in Gaza and their supporters. They believe Netanyahu has caved to political pressures by opting for military solutions rather than prioritizing the return of the captives seized during the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on October 7.
During a virtual briefing, US National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said that Biden in the Time interview had reflected what critics were saying.
The President and “Prime Minister Netanyahu do not agree on everything, and he talked in that interview about some of the things they don’t agree on, such as a two-state solution,” Kirby said.
But he downplayed the significance of those disagreements.
“For our part, we’re going to make sure that Israel has what it needs to continue to eliminate the threat by Hamas,” Kirby said.
Israel, Kirby said, had made a good faith effort to condole a hostage deal and the Biden administration would continue to work with Netanyahu and the war cabinet to get the proposal “over the finish line.”