Biden "running out" of patience with Bibi as Gaza war hits 100 days
Biden "running out" of patience with Bibi as Gaza war hits 100 days
President Biden and other senior U.S. officials are becoming increasingly frustrated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rejection of most of the administration's recent requests related to the war in Gaza, four U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the issue told Axios.
Why it matters: Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack 100 days ago, Biden has given Israel his full backing, with unprecedented military and diplomatic support, even while taking a political hit from part of his base in an election year. That support has largely continued publicly, but behind the scenes, there are growing signs that Biden is losing his patience, the U.S. officials said.
- "The situation sucks and we are stuck. The president's patience is running out," one U.S. official told Axios.
- "At every juncture, Netanyahu has given Biden the finger," Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who has been in close contact with U.S. officials about the war, told Axios. "They are pleading with the Netanyahu coalition, but getting slapped in the face over and over again."
Behind the scenes: Biden hasn't spoken to Netanyahu in the 20 days since a tense Dec. 23 call, which a frustrated Biden ended with the words: "This conversation is over." They had spoken almost every other day in the first two months of the war.
- Before Biden hung up, Netanyahu had rejected his request that Israel release the Palestinian tax revenues it's withholding.
- National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby tried to downplay the decrease in communication, telling reporters on Wednesday that "it doesn't say anything" about the state of the relationship.
- But more and more signs of irritation are emerging. "There is immense frustration," a U.S. official said.
It has long been time to abandon the 🥕 and start using the stick.
Maybe old Joe will finally get the picture that you cannot work with a hostile authoritarian who is trying to preserve their political ambitions through warmongering. Better late than never I guess, but holy fuck how much more obvious can it get.
115Good. Maybe this can be the turning point away from the US's bootlicking support of Israel. Fuck Bibi and his genocidal goons.
61It's crickets when politicians propose giving billions of American taxpayer money and weapons to Israel, year after year. It has never been a better time to stop fucking doing that for good.
38More finger wagging, no action.
34I didn't know Israel was even handling Palestinian tax revenues. Gives a clear picture of just how much of a stranglehold that Israel has on Palestine, but I suppose it should've been obvious since I already knew they controlled food, water, and pretty much everything going in and out of Palestine.
21At every juncture, Netanyahu has given Biden the finger
*Surprised Pikachu face
Racist people never care about anyone, once he is done with Palestinians, you can be sure he will go after someone else
19Just give them another 50yrs. I'm sure they can resolve peace. But continue to ship missiles to Isreal
10But keep shipping missiles. Ok Biden.
8Sure sure, running out of patience. How many days since they sent them more missles and weapons? What like, 11 or 12 days now? And before that Biden used an executive order to send even more? That was after we sent them an initial round of tons of weapons? Yeah Ill tell ya they're bound to get a stern talking to any day now. I bet after they send them another 3 tons of ammunition the headlines will say something about how "the US is slamming Israel on their war in Gaza" Its so exhausting all this theater.
7How do you "run out of patience"? At some point, a line gets crossed. Bibi has either crossed the line, or he hasn't. Saying "oh boy you're trying my patience!" is about as toothless as my grandmother.
7“This conversation is over.”
Like when you have enough with someone and tell them "Do as you like", instead the responsible thing to say is "you are not getting any of our weapons, Sherlock"
5Me, too, Joey. Me fucking too.
2He isn't getting impatient with Bibi, he is getting scared he will lose the election before they can instigate Iran enough to feed the machine.
-3Biden went from
"We have to end it before election season"
to
"y'all are fine with Genocide right?"
-4Uh oh, Bibi had better stop being mean or Dark Brandon is gonna have to get involved (halfheartedly whinge about it while bypassing congress to send more billions worth of weapons to Israel). Remember, vote for the guy who abuses his power to support genocide or you're literally worse than a Nazi!
-6