By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO — While much of the world focused on whether President Biden would verbally stumble in his televised news conference from Washington D.C. on Thursday — he did, confusing the names of Vice President Kamala Harris with his probable opponent, former President Donald Trump — Middle East watchers focused on what he had to say about “the day after” in Gaza.
He said that he is trying to arrange for Arab governments including Egypt and Saudi Arabia to “keep the peace in Gaza without Israeli forces staying in Gaza.”
A second priority once a ceasefire is achieved is to assure access for humanitarian aid, Biden told an international press corps enlarged by foreign reporters who had covered the just concluded NATO conference.
He admitted that the pier which the United States built off the Gaza coast was unsuccessful in guaranteeing humanitarian aid. “I was hoping it would be more successful,” he said. Strong waves and adverse weather in the Mediterranean Sea forced the abandonment of the pier project, which had cost the U.S. many millions of dollars.
Biden was critical of Israel’s war cabinet, which he described as “one of the most conservative” in Israel’s history, which provides “no ultimate answer to the two-state solution” which the United States and much of the world envision with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace. “Israel occasionally was less that cooperative,” the U.S. President said at one point.
Referencing his long service in the U.S. Senate, Biden said he has been a strong friend of Israel since his first visit with then Prime Minister Golda Meir. He recalled sitting across her desk from her with then General (and future Prime Minister) Yitzhak Rabin at his side. “I know Israel well; I support Israel,” he said.
Soon after Oct. 7 when Hamas massacred nearly 1,200 Israelis and took 250 persons hostages, Biden visited Israel and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other leaders. He said he counseled them not to make the same mistake that Americans made in Afghanistan by occupying Gaza. Once the U.S. had killed the 9/11 terrorism architect Osama bin Laden, he said, it should have gotten out of Afghanistan and not tried to unify that country.
“Don’t think that is what you should be doing, doubling down,” he said he counseled the Israelis. “We will help you find the bad guys — (Hamas leader Yahya) Sinwar and company.” He added that “doesn’t mean walk away from going after Sinwar and Hamas.”
The President said he knows that there has been some criticism of his refusal to send 2,000-pound bombs to Israel. “I am not providing a 2,000-pound bomb,” he said. “They cannot be used in Gaza or any populated area without causing great human tragedy and damage.” Lest that be misinterpreted as a lessening of U.S. support for Israel, he added: “Remember what happened when you had the attack [by Iran] on Israel with rockets and ballistic missiles.”
Very little damage was done, according to Biden, because he had drawn some Arab nations and Europe into a coalition that along with Israel shot down most of the enemy projectiles. “It sent an incredible lesson to what is going on in the Middle East,” he said.
He commented that Hamas is losing popularity.
“There is a growing dissatisfaction on the West Bank from the Palestinians about Hamas. Hamas is not very popular now.”
The President closed his discussion of Israel with the observation that “there are a lot of moving parts. I just have to keep making them move to make sure that we get as much done as we can toward a ceasefire — a ceasefire! And by the way, look at the numbers in Israel. My numbers are better in Israel that they are here — better than a lot of other people here too.”
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Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World.
Biden stumbled his way through the presser. During the question segment on Gaza, he fell back on the tired “cease fire” line and negatively said that Netanyahu’s government is the most conservative, meaning difficult to work with, ever.
The one word Biden never mentioned once is the one act by Hamas that would bring a ceasefire immediately – “Hostages.”
Biden never once, in his confused answer about Israel and the Gaza war, mentioned the key reasons for Israel’s continued fighting for the return of its Hostages.
To Biden, clearly, the return of Israel’s kidnapped has no worth. To Israel it is fundamental.
If Hamas returned the Hostages today, the fighting would end in two minutes. The anti-Israel crowd has Biden’s ear. Netanyahu has no choice. The Hostage crime is the number one priority in Israel today. Israel must keep fighting.
Jerry, in his opening remarks, 40 minutes before he answered a question about Gaza from a reporter, President Biden said, “The United States has been working to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, to bring the hostages home, to create a path for peace and stability in the Middle East.”