WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said in a recent interview published Tuesday that he has “good reason” to believe Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is prolonging the war with Hamas in Gaza for political gain.
Biden made the remarks in a May 28 interview with Time magazine when he was asked whether he believed Prime Minister Netanyahu was prolonging the conflict for his own self-preservation, as some in Israel say.
“I’m not going to comment on that. There are good reasons why people come to that conclusion,” Biden said, adding that before the war, Netanyahu faced backlash for wanting to reform the country’s judicial system. “So this is a domestic debate that doesn’t seem to have any impact. I don’t know if he’s going to change his position, but it’s not helping.”
Biden explained that his main disagreement with the Israeli prime minister is over Gaza’s future after the war ends.
“What happens when Gaza is over? What will happen? Will the Israeli army invade Gaza again?” he asked. “I’ve spoken to the Egyptians, I’ve spoken to the Saudis, I’ve spoken to the Jordanians, the UAE. The answer is, if that’s the case, it doesn’t work. There needs to be a two-state solution, a transition to a two-state solution. That’s what Bibi Netanyahu and I disagree on the most.”
Asked if Netanyahu was the only person standing in the way of a set of proposals that could help move toward a two-state solution, Biden acknowledged that the Time article would be published at a later date and said he needed to be careful about what he said to Time because they were already in the process of negotiating ways to move forward.
“I think there’s a clear path for a transition where Arab countries provide security and reconstruction for Gaza in exchange for a long-term commitment to moving to a two-state solution,” Biden said. “And that extends from Saudi Arabia, my team, who I continue to talk to, to Jordan, who are now trying to bring in supplies and specific goods, including food and medicine, and also to Egypt, who I’m in frequent conversations with about ways to get more supplies into Gaza to prevent this catastrophe from continuing.”
The interview took place last Tuesday, just days before he was to announce at the White House on Friday that Israel had tabled a ceasefire proposal in Gaza.
But an Israeli official told NBC News on Monday that Biden’s description of the offer was “not accurate.”
Biden and Netanyahu’s relationship has become strained since Israel invaded the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7. Biden has faced growing opposition from the far-left wing of the Democratic Party over U.S. policy toward Israel, which supports Israel, a close ally.
Asked by Time magazine last week whether Israeli forces had committed war crimes in Gaza, Biden said “the answer is uncertain, and it’s being investigated by Israel itself, and it’s something we don’t recognize at the International Criminal Court,” adding that the court’s chief prosecutor last month sought arrest warrants for war crimes against Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Netanyahu. “But one thing is certain: the people of Gaza, the Palestinians, have suffered greatly from lack of food, water, medicine and so much more. And many innocent people have been killed.”
