As Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza escalates, the Biden administration finds itself in a precarious position: Administration officials say Israel’s counterattack against Hamas has been too severe, too costly in civilian casualties, and lacking a coherent endgame, but they are unable to exert significant influence on America’s closest ally in the Middle East to change its course.
That has left the Biden administration urgently seeking to temper anger in the Arab world by making clear, publicly and privately, that the United States is deeply distressed by the suffering in Gaza, a densely populated land strip of more than 2 million people, about half of whom are children. But there is little indication that Arab leaders are moved by these assurances, leaving the shape of the Middle East after the war — and the U.S. role in it — highly uncertain.
“It’s important for the administration to be loud in their concern for the humanitarian toll,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “I understand they don’t want to open up any public space between the United States and Israel. But if we all want to prevent another front from opening up and we want the Gulf states to be part of the reconstruction of Gaza, then we need to make as clear as possible that the United States is prioritizing reduction in civilian harm.”
Murphy recently issued a public statement declaring the current rate of civilian deaths “unacceptable” and urging Israel to shift course. “The administration has been pressing really hard privately,” Murphy said. “And I think they’ve got to be even louder publicly in their concerns about the civilian cost, even while they support Israel’s ability to continue to perpetuate the war.”
The White House declined to comment for this article. A spokesperson pointed to previous comments by national security adviser Jake Sullivan saying that Hamas’s use of Palestinian civilians as human shields does not lessen Israel’s responsibility to do everything possible to minimize civilian casualties.
Option, targeted HAMAS operations rather than blowing up civilians that you didn’t grant enough time to flee.
> Administration officials say Israel’s counterattack against Hamas has been too severe, too costly in civilian casualties, and lacking a coherent endgame, **but they are unable to exert significant influence on America’s closest ally in the Middle East to change its course.**
Emphasis mine. This right here is why the U.S. should not be providing anymore military aid. You want influence U.S. officials? Stop giving unconditional support to a country that doesn’t care about war crimes. You wanna know what would absolutely provide influence? Threaten to pull U.S. military warships away from Israel. I think Israel knows pretty damn well they need our support to prevent being attacked by neighboring countries that support Palestine. Until you actually use the influence we have, you can’t say you’re “unable to exert significant influence”.
BS. Plenty of options, like, for example, telling Israel that if they commit war crimes we will stop funding them.
Continuing to support the current regime in Israel condones these acts. And if Israel stops hitting hornet nests, maybe the hornets will sting less often.
The ethical option is to demand a ceasefire and to escalate from there if Israel refuses.
Fucking liar. They could stop this tomorrow by abstaining from using the veto on the UN Security Council.
Israel doesn’t have as much choice as people seem to think. In response to the horrific hamas terrorist attack it has to respond with extreme and overwhelming military action or it risks inviting further attacks.
And of course this is the catch 22. By committing to overwhelming military action it risks a backlash inviting further attacks.
Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
Removing Hamas may be their least bad option.
I’m not a political mastermind but telling Israel that their aid is contingent on not brazenly killing civilians seems to be an obvious tactic.
The administration wants people to believe they have no options because they don’t actually care if Israel does war crimes.
The US condones Israel.
Why are we fighting a religious war?
It’s a major problem if a country recieving billions in funding can commit genocide and there are ‘no options’.
Not lying about personally seeing and having confirmed photos of beheaded babies was an option.
Not publicly questioning the Palestinian death toll was an option.
I would be content if we just stop sending any aid to Israel until they end the occupation.
The US relationship with “our closest ally in the Middle East” Israel, bolstered by donations from J street because we let our politicians take bribes, has always been an anchor around the American publics neck. They didnt help us during 9/11 or the invasions that followed and we dont have real military presence there. They are an utterly useless ally, and the cost of being their friend is absolutely enormous to the American public. Its well past time to cut ties with these theocratic land thieves, and reform where politicians get their money. Israel has universal health care and we do not, yet we send them a mountain of money every year.
Welp, better give them more money.
Stop funding it.
Umm stop sending them all our money? That’s one way.
The best option is grow a back bone and tell Israel it can’t act with impunity. We are not subservient to Israel. Netanyahu is invoking talk of the Amalekites, I don’t want to fund his genocidal bullshit, I want no part in it, tell him to chill, no other options.
Israel right now feels a lot like America after 9/11, with it’s blind “righteous anger” that has to be treated as unquestionable. But collectivizing guilt and killing people who had nothing to do with the crime is the opposite of righteous. I don’t care how emotional that makes people. We need to stop going along with this bullshit.
The only option is grow a fuckin pair and speak truth to power.
they could stop sending weapons. that might help
How about withholding aid?
The only thing keeping this from turning into Israel vs the Middle East is America, and you’re telling me we can’t do anything to curtail Israel’s bloodlust?
Biden has done more for the Palestinians than any other president and much more than Trump would have ever done for them yet his base is turning their back on him. Progressives really do like eating their own.
Cut the aid if israel doesnt stop bombing civilians
The United States pays for 20% of Israel’s military budget while Israel has universal health care, subsidized college tuition and still ran a budget surplus last year.
I swear every thread about this war is making people dumber and dumber.
There are only few options because the ADL controls SOOOOO much donor money they can essentially dictate foreign policy in the Middle East.
The correct response is to threaten to pull shared intelligence on Iran and Saudi Arabia from Israel, and threaten to pull our air assets out of readiness and ship them back to Europe, thus leaving them vulnerable. In addition to pulling aid and freezing assets.
What can Isreal realistically do to keep pressure on Hamas without further harming civilians?
“…privately asked it to consider proportionality in its attacks, advocated a higher priority on avoiding civilian deaths…”
What does this look like? I know Isreal isn’t above intentionally targeting civilians in order to put pressure on governments they’re warring with as they’ve done so in the past, but I’m of the belief that if they had a button that could kill Hamas militants without harming civilians they’d push it.
You guys realize that Biden just can’t pull funding right? And you’ll never get Congress to agree.
I love the redditors on here with their “It’s just that easy” opinions. The US should hire you instead of people who are experts and specialists in international relations.
I’ve being smarmy but absolutely their is no EASY solution to a 2k year old issue. The Gaza shit is horrible but we aren’t Israel and we can pressure but we can’t stop, and if we do it the wrong way it will open a powder keg larger than Gaza.
International relations NEVER has easy issues. EVER.
How about we stop funding their defense then?
Drop our assistance entirely. It doesn’t matter if they do or don’t listen to us, we can decide where our money is going. And I don’t just mean checks, I mean stuff that costs us to supply them, drones and satellite surveillance aren’t free.
Pretending we can’t have any say in our own support is absolutely a lie presented by bribed weasels.
One option is stop sending weapons and money.
Here’s a idea, stop funding a apartheid
I can think of a few options and they all include not condoning genocide.
“Sees few options” as “US vetoes UN resolution condemning all violence against civilians in Israel-Hamas war.” Seems like there have been options, Biden just chose poorly.
Cut the money. It’s not hard.
Here is the option. Take away the funding.
U.S. Assistance (financial, military, moral, or stalling freedom of speech to hide the truth from the American public) is tantamount to complicity in the crimes and genocide!
How about not giving them any money
Netanyahu and his Far Right Extremist allies have been working their entire careers to make this war happen. They are going to keep slaughtering civilians until there is just a big empty strip of land, waiting for “Settlers” to move into. As was always the plan.
43 comments
As Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza escalates, the Biden administration finds itself in a precarious position: Administration officials say Israel’s counterattack against Hamas has been too severe, too costly in civilian casualties, and lacking a coherent endgame, but they are unable to exert significant influence on America’s closest ally in the Middle East to change its course.
U.S. efforts to get Israel to scale back its counterattack in response to the Oct. 7 killings by Hamas that left at least 1,400 Israelis dead have failed or fallen short. The Biden administration [urged Israel against a ground invasion,](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/27/us-urging-israel-rethinkg-gaza-ground-invasion/?itid=lk_inline_manual_4) privately asked it to consider proportionality in its attacks, advocated a higher priority on avoiding civilian deaths, and [called for a humanitarian pause](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/10/27/gaza-israel-humanitarian-pause/?itid=lk_inline_manual_4) — only for Israeli officials to dismiss or reject all those suggestions.
That has left the Biden administration urgently seeking to temper anger in the Arab world by making clear, publicly and privately, that the United States is deeply distressed by the suffering in Gaza, a densely populated land strip of more than 2 million people, about half of whom are children. But there is little indication that Arab leaders are moved by these assurances, leaving the shape of the Middle East after the war — and the U.S. role in it — highly uncertain.
“It’s important for the administration to be loud in their concern for the humanitarian toll,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “I understand they don’t want to open up any public space between the United States and Israel. But if we all want to prevent another front from opening up and we want the Gulf states to be part of the reconstruction of Gaza, then we need to make as clear as possible that the United States is prioritizing reduction in civilian harm.”
Murphy recently issued a public statement declaring the current rate of civilian deaths “unacceptable” and urging Israel to shift course. “The administration has been pressing really hard privately,” Murphy said. “And I think they’ve got to be even louder publicly in their concerns about the civilian cost, even while they support Israel’s ability to continue to perpetuate the war.”
The White House declined to comment for this article. A spokesperson pointed to previous comments by national security adviser Jake Sullivan saying that Hamas’s use of Palestinian civilians as human shields does not lessen Israel’s responsibility to do everything possible to minimize civilian casualties.
**Read more, free with email registration:** [**https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/05/white-house-resigned-israel-onslaught-gaza/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com**](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/05/white-house-resigned-israel-onslaught-gaza/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com)
Option, targeted HAMAS operations rather than blowing up civilians that you didn’t grant enough time to flee.
> Administration officials say Israel’s counterattack against Hamas has been too severe, too costly in civilian casualties, and lacking a coherent endgame, **but they are unable to exert significant influence on America’s closest ally in the Middle East to change its course.**
Emphasis mine. This right here is why the U.S. should not be providing anymore military aid. You want influence U.S. officials? Stop giving unconditional support to a country that doesn’t care about war crimes. You wanna know what would absolutely provide influence? Threaten to pull U.S. military warships away from Israel. I think Israel knows pretty damn well they need our support to prevent being attacked by neighboring countries that support Palestine. Until you actually use the influence we have, you can’t say you’re “unable to exert significant influence”.
BS. Plenty of options, like, for example, telling Israel that if they commit war crimes we will stop funding them.
Stop supporting them!
Few options? How about scaling back financial support of the current Israeli regime, one that [pours concrete down Palestinian wells](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ1jXR-ymD0) or [bombs an airport in post-earthquake Alleppo, during a humanitarian crisis, hampering international aid to civilians.](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/syria-says-israeli-air-strike-puts-aleppo-airport-out-service-2023-03-07/).
Continuing to support the current regime in Israel condones these acts. And if Israel stops hitting hornet nests, maybe the hornets will sting less often.
The ethical option is to demand a ceasefire and to escalate from there if Israel refuses.
Fucking liar. They could stop this tomorrow by abstaining from using the veto on the UN Security Council.
Israel doesn’t have as much choice as people seem to think. In response to the horrific hamas terrorist attack it has to respond with extreme and overwhelming military action or it risks inviting further attacks.
And of course this is the catch 22. By committing to overwhelming military action it risks a backlash inviting further attacks.
Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
Removing Hamas may be their least bad option.
I’m not a political mastermind but telling Israel that their aid is contingent on not brazenly killing civilians seems to be an obvious tactic.
The administration wants people to believe they have no options because they don’t actually care if Israel does war crimes.
The US condones Israel.
Why are we fighting a religious war?
It’s a major problem if a country recieving billions in funding can commit genocide and there are ‘no options’.
Not lying about personally seeing and having confirmed photos of beheaded babies was an option.
Not publicly questioning the Palestinian death toll was an option.
Not trying to [secretly send Israel weapons](https://truthout.org/articles/biden-wants-arms-deals-with-israel-to-be-done-in-complete-secrecy/) for them to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians is an option.
Not claiming that support for a ceasefire is [repugnant and disgraceful](https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/omar-and-tlaib-israel-gaza-statements/) was an option.
Not saying that the US has [no red lines](https://www.reuters.com/world/us-not-drawing-red-lines-israel-white-house-2023-10-27/) was an option.
The Biden administration has had many options, they just genuinely want to [support a genocidal state](https://jewishcurrents.org/a-textbook-case-of-genocide).
Few options isn’t no options, jack!
I would be content if we just stop sending any aid to Israel until they end the occupation.
The US relationship with “our closest ally in the Middle East” Israel, bolstered by donations from J street because we let our politicians take bribes, has always been an anchor around the American publics neck. They didnt help us during 9/11 or the invasions that followed and we dont have real military presence there. They are an utterly useless ally, and the cost of being their friend is absolutely enormous to the American public. Its well past time to cut ties with these theocratic land thieves, and reform where politicians get their money. Israel has universal health care and we do not, yet we send them a mountain of money every year.
Welp, better give them more money.
Stop funding it.
Umm stop sending them all our money? That’s one way.
The best option is grow a back bone and tell Israel it can’t act with impunity. We are not subservient to Israel. Netanyahu is invoking talk of the Amalekites, I don’t want to fund his genocidal bullshit, I want no part in it, tell him to chill, no other options.
Israel right now feels a lot like America after 9/11, with it’s blind “righteous anger” that has to be treated as unquestionable. But collectivizing guilt and killing people who had nothing to do with the crime is the opposite of righteous. I don’t care how emotional that makes people. We need to stop going along with this bullshit.
The only option is grow a fuckin pair and speak truth to power.
they could stop sending weapons. that might help
How about withholding aid?
The only thing keeping this from turning into Israel vs the Middle East is America, and you’re telling me we can’t do anything to curtail Israel’s bloodlust?
Biden has done more for the Palestinians than any other president and much more than Trump would have ever done for them yet his base is turning their back on him. Progressives really do like eating their own.
Cut the aid if israel doesnt stop bombing civilians
The United States pays for 20% of Israel’s military budget while Israel has universal health care, subsidized college tuition and still ran a budget surplus last year.
I swear every thread about this war is making people dumber and dumber.
There are only few options because the ADL controls SOOOOO much donor money they can essentially dictate foreign policy in the Middle East.
The correct response is to threaten to pull shared intelligence on Iran and Saudi Arabia from Israel, and threaten to pull our air assets out of readiness and ship them back to Europe, thus leaving them vulnerable. In addition to pulling aid and freezing assets.
What can Isreal realistically do to keep pressure on Hamas without further harming civilians?
“…privately asked it to consider proportionality in its attacks, advocated a higher priority on avoiding civilian deaths…”
What does this look like? I know Isreal isn’t above intentionally targeting civilians in order to put pressure on governments they’re warring with as they’ve done so in the past, but I’m of the belief that if they had a button that could kill Hamas militants without harming civilians they’d push it.
You guys realize that Biden just can’t pull funding right? And you’ll never get Congress to agree.
I love the redditors on here with their “It’s just that easy” opinions. The US should hire you instead of people who are experts and specialists in international relations.
I’ve being smarmy but absolutely their is no EASY solution to a 2k year old issue. The Gaza shit is horrible but we aren’t Israel and we can pressure but we can’t stop, and if we do it the wrong way it will open a powder keg larger than Gaza.
International relations NEVER has easy issues. EVER.
How about we stop funding their defense then?
Drop our assistance entirely. It doesn’t matter if they do or don’t listen to us, we can decide where our money is going. And I don’t just mean checks, I mean stuff that costs us to supply them, drones and satellite surveillance aren’t free.
Pretending we can’t have any say in our own support is absolutely a lie presented by bribed weasels.
One option is stop sending weapons and money.
Here’s a idea, stop funding a apartheid
I can think of a few options and they all include not condoning genocide.
“Sees few options” as “US vetoes UN resolution condemning all violence against civilians in Israel-Hamas war.” Seems like there have been options, Biden just chose poorly.
Cut the money. It’s not hard.
Here is the option. Take away the funding.
U.S. Assistance (financial, military, moral, or stalling freedom of speech to hide the truth from the American public) is tantamount to complicity in the crimes and genocide!
How about not giving them any money
Netanyahu and his Far Right Extremist allies have been working their entire careers to make this war happen. They are going to keep slaughtering civilians until there is just a big empty strip of land, waiting for “Settlers” to move into. As was always the plan.