President Biden said Saturday that the United States has no “red lines” with Israel over its actions in the war against Hamas, which leaves the Middle Eastern country vulnerable.
“I’m never going to leave Israel,” the president told MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart in a wide-ranging interview. “The defense of Israel remains important. There are no red lines that must be crossed.” [where] I’m going to cut off all the weapons so they won’t have Iron Dome to protect them. ”
After delivering the State of the Union address, Biden clarified his hot mic comments Thursday night, in which he said he was planning a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “draw closer to Jesus” over the war response. He was arrested for saying that he was there.
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President Biden said he believed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “hurting Israel more than helping it” with the Gaza war, but vowed the United States would never stop supporting Israel. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP)
Biden told Capehart: “He has a right to defend Israel, a right to continue pursuing Hamas, but he must pay more attention to the innocent lives lost as a result of the actions taken. We have to do that.”
“In my opinion,” he said, Prime Minister Netanyahu “is hurting Israel more than helping it… That goes against his position. I think it’s a big mistake, so I want a ceasefire.”
The president added that he was aiming for a “massive” hostage exchange over six weeks ahead of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which begins on Monday.
The move comes as Hamas balks at an agreement pushed by the United States and its allies to suspend fighting, with the release of additional hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, and a surge in humanitarian aid to Gaza. That seems increasingly unlikely.
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But the president added that there would be “a red line that he cannot cross that if he crosses it, another 30,000 Palestinians will not die.”
Gaza City has been devastated by Israeli airstrikes. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
He said there were “alternative ways to deal with the trauma caused by Hamas” while avoiding civilian casualties. He said he had instructed Israel’s war cabinet not to make the same mistakes the United States made decades ago when it invaded Iraq and Afghanistan to find Osama bin Laden after 9/11. .
“It wasn’t necessary and just caused more problems than it erased.”
He added that the United States will “do everything possible” to bring more humanitarian aid to Gaza for civilians suffering from the war.
Biden has warned for months that Israel risks losing international support due to rising civilian casualties in the region.
The president also said he “understands” that pro-Palestinian Democrats who have been protesting in some Democratic primary states over his support for Israel are “irresponsible” and voting against him. Stated.
“I don’t blame them for being upset. Their families are there, there are people dying. They want something to be done about it, and they say, ‘Joe, Do something, do something.”
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He continued, “I totally get it. You either have family there or you’re from families that are still isolated there and maybe victimized. It’s understandable that they feel that way. “That’s why I’m doing everything I can.” This is to try to stop it. ”
