Biden avoids direct comment on whether Netanyahu is prolonging Gaza war
Washington DC - President Joe Biden has declined to comment on speculation that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might be continuing the war in the Gaza Strip for his own political self-preservation.
In an interview with TIME magazine, Biden said: "I'm not going to comment on that." But he added: "There is every reason for people to draw that conclusion."
Biden noted that before the Gaza war, Netanyahu had come in for heavy criticism for his judicial reforms.
"And so it's an internal domestic debate that seems to have no consequence. And whether he would change his position or not, it's hard to say, but it has not been helpful."
In the interview, which was conducted on Tuesday last week but only published this Tuesday, Biden emphasized his support for Israel in the fight against the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement.
"My major disagreement with Netanyahu is, what happens after, what happens after Gaza's over? What, what does it go back to? Do Israeli forces go back in?" Biden asked.
Biden reveals his "major disagreement with Netanyahu"
"I've been talking to the Egyptians and been talking to the Saudis. I've been talking to the Jordanians, I've been talking to the Emiratis. The answer is, if that's the case, it can't work," the US president added.
When asked whether, according to US information, the Israeli military was committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip, Biden did not give a direct yes or no answer.
"The answer is it's uncertain and has been investigated by the Israelis themselves. The ICC is something that we don't, we don't recognize," he said, referring to the International Criminal Court.
"But one thing is certain, the people in Gaza, the Palestinians have suffered greatly, for lack of food, water, medicine, et cetera. And a lot of innocent people have been killed.
"But ... a lot of it has to do not just with Israelis, but what Hamas is doing in Israel as we speak."
Cover photo: Collage: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP