With great fanfare, Joe Biden confirmed on 8 May that his administration had suspended one weapons shipment to Israel, delaying the delivery of 3,500 bombs that can cause devastating casualties when dropped on population centers. Biden said he warned Israeli leaders that he would also block artillery shells and other munitions if Israel went ahead with a ground invasion of Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, where 1.4 million Palestinians have taken shelter.
It seemed Biden had finally decided to use the most effective leverage he has over Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and his extremist government to force an end to Israel’s devastating war in Gaza. But less than a week later, it became clear that Biden had backtracked and he will continue sending Israel far more weapons than the one shipment he held back. Last Tuesday, the Biden administration notified Congress that it would move ahead with more than $1bn in new arms deals for Israel.
With that decision, Biden undermined his own strategy of trying to pressure Netanyahu and his government, who are intent on launching a ground invasion of Rafah despite months of warnings from the US about the fate of the many Palestinians driven out of their homes in other parts of Gaza by the Israeli military. If Israel was worried about replenishing its stockpile – a real concern since some Israeli officials warned in January that they could have run out of bombs to drop on Gaza without a steady supply of US weapons – Biden just reassured Netanyahu that Israeli munitions would be restocked no matter how much death and destruction Israel rains on Rafah.
For months, it has been clear that Israel’s bloodshed in Gaza would not be sustainable without deep US complicity and assistance. This has been Biden’s pattern since he pledged unwavering support for Netanyahu’s government after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October: whatever concern Biden might express for Palestinian........