FLASH
Shkruar nga Simon Tisdall
But as long as Netanyahu remains in power, Biden and Western leaders will face a constant wall of defiance in Jerusalem that prolongs the suffering in Gaza, damages their credibility at home, hurts their interests abroad, and poses the ever-present danger of present of a wider war. US officials fear the West Bank could soon erupt.
The devastating, deeply disturbing and unrelenting human suffering in Gaza caused by Israel's response to the Hamas atrocities of October 7 will leave a permanent mark on all who witness it.
The political damage the resulting worldwide revulsion is inflicting on Israel's main ally, US President Joe Biden, and the Western-led international rules-based order may also prove irreparable.
Biden reiterated his staunch support for Israel in San Francisco last week. He said he did not know when the attack on Gaza, where more than 11,000 Palestinians are said to have been killed, would end.
For supporters of a cease-fire, it was a troubling admission, given the behind-the-scenes influence the US allegedly wields over Israel's leaders.
The impression that Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, is not really listening to the Americans has been strengthened since the attacks by Hamas, which killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians. He continues to reject any form of ceasefire while Hamas remains undefeated and the Israelis are held hostage.
Despite its apparent isolation, Israel brusquely dismissed last week's UN Security Council resolution calling for extended humanitarian pauses as "disconnected from the reality on the ground". Neither the US nor the UK vetoed the resolution, unlike previous votes. Recent statements from both countries are increasingly critical.
That's because the pressure on Biden to intervene forcefully is mounting — and he's starting to buckle. He insisted last week that a ceasefire was not "realistic" and used emotional language warning that Hamas planned more atrocities.
But he did not question Palestinian casualty figures, as before, and appeared to accept that Israel's bombing had been "indiscriminate".
It is clear that Biden is not in step with American and global opinion. A new poll suggests 68% of Americans want a ceasefire, while nearly 40% think Biden should act as a "neutral mediator" rather than Israel's chief defender.
Democratic voters are not particularly impressed. Another poll found that 56% believe Israel's military response has gone too far, up 21% in a month.
Significantly, about 50% of young American voters and non-white voters believe Israel's response is "too big." These are key 2024 constituencies for Biden where he is already polling badly. He is also losing Arab and Muslim support in swing states – and faces a staff revolt. None of this bodes well for his shaky re-election chances.
Public anger over Gaza is shaking up the domestic politics of America's closest allies. In Britain, the ceasefire issue has divided the government-in-waiting of Keir Starmer. France and Germany are also at odds.
The EU, like Biden, has fallen back on the fanciful two-state solution, recycling it as some kind of magic potion, despite the numerous failures of negotiations in the past.
"One horror does not justify another," Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief, told Israelis. But he lacks leverage.
To many people around the globe, it seems that the West condemns the deaths of Ukrainian civilians but tolerates those of Palestinians.
In the parallel battle for global opinion, Biden and the West are clearly losing on Gaza. The outpouring of anger felt in Arab countries – and beyond – at the intolerable human casualties is immense and could have lasting and adverse geopolitical consequences.
Most of the criticism is directed at Israel as a "terrorist state", according to Turkey. But the US is also under fire, for example, from Gulf regimes it has encouraged to establish friendly ties with Israel and from post-colonial African countries that identify with the Palestinian struggle.
While China and Russia are actively exploiting perceived Western hypocrisy.
What could Biden have done differently?
After October 7, given existing US policy and his personal history, he was bound to support Israel. He visited Tel Aviv, gave a wonderful speech, showed real empathy. But he came out on top, as he is wont to do.
His advice not to "get angry" was ignored. Since then, he has appeared to have given Netanyahu free rein, or at least failed to rein him in. And Netanyahu, an unscrupulous far-right nationalist and ardent fan of Donald Trump, is no friend of Biden.
The US would like a time limit on the war, but Netanyahu will not stop shooting until he can claim that Hamas is completely gone – a practical impossibility. He often talks about a "long war". It's his best hope to stay in office and out of jail.
Rejecting Biden's warnings, he intends to retain control of Gaza indefinitely. As always, he opposes a two-state solution. Fewer than 4% of Israeli Jews believe Netanyahu will tell the truth about the war, a poll found.
The US has belatedly begun to take a harder line, and Israeli forces may be forced, over time, to show more restraint.
But as long as Netanyahu remains in power, Biden and Western leaders will face a constant wall of defiance in Jerusalem that prolongs the suffering in Gaza, damages their credibility at home, hurts their interests abroad, and poses the ever-present danger of presence of a wider war.
US officials fear the West Coast could soon erupt.
Whether the issue is the future of Gaza, Palestinian statehood, the Iranian threat or honest democratic governance, Netanyahu is a liability, more so now than before the war. / Taken with cuts from The Guardian
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