White House Divided Over Biden's Israel Bias... "More Turmoil Than Any Other Issue"

Amid growing opposition within the administration to U.S. President Joe Biden's pro-Israel policy, it has been belatedly confirmed that disagreements also erupted inside the White House.

According to the Washington Post (WP) on the 26th (local time), about 20 White House staff members requested meetings with the president's senior aides earlier this month regarding the Biden administration's approach to the war between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas. At that time, it was the sixth week since the outbreak of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with the Israeli military having launched a full-scale offensive, expanding airstrikes and ground operations in the Gaza Strip.

They met with White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, Senior Advisor Anita Dunn, and Deputy National Security Advisor John Finer to ask about strategies to reduce Palestinian civilian casualties, the messages the administration wanted to convey regarding the war, and post-war plans. It appears they expressed dissatisfaction that President Biden was unilaterally supporting Israel and not making sufficient efforts to reduce Palestinian civilian harm. In response, White House aides reportedly said that if the administration wanted to exert influence on the Israeli government through quiet diplomacy, it needed to be cautious about publicly criticizing Israel.

Through interviews with 27 White House officials, senior administration officials, and external advisers, the WP conveyed this internal atmosphere, noting that "President Biden's biggest foreign policy is facing a crisis that is dividing the White House." It further assessed that "this war is shaking the administration more than any issue during Biden's three years in office."

U.S. President Joe Biden. [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

Presidential aides said the sensitivity of this issue is largely because the U.S. government's firm support for Israel stems significantly from Biden's lifelong attachment to Israel.

President Biden has often mentioned that his meeting with then-Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in 1973 was a pivotal event that made him fully realize how crucial the Israeli state is to the survival of the Jewish people.

However, at that time, Israel was a progressive country only 25 years since its founding, with weak military power, struggling to find a way to survive in the aftermath of the Holocaust. The WP pointed out that today's Israel is a military power led by a far-right government, marking a significant difference.

Some aides are concerned that President Biden does not distinguish between the idealized form of Israel and the current aggressive far-right government.

President Biden himself has sometimes responded emotionally. On the 25th of last month, he expressed skepticism about the accuracy of the Palestinian Ministry of Health's reported civilian death toll, which sparked controversy, and the next day he met with five Muslim American representatives. At that meeting, he reportedly said, "I'm sorry. I am disappointed in myself," and "I will do better," according to attendees.

Some experts point out that if President Biden had expressed his support for Israel more moderately in the early stages of the war, there would have been more diplomatic room to maneuver when civilian casualties increased later.

They argue that there are inherent limits to influencing Israel's actions while refraining from public criticism of Israel.

The internal division within the White House partly stems from differences between senior aides who have worked with President Biden for a long time and younger staff members from diverse backgrounds, but senior aides also acknowledge that this war has damaged America's international standing.

However, they explain that while President Biden refuses to call for a ceasefire as the progressive camp desires, he has been more directly mentioning in public statements that Israel has the responsibility to minimize civilian casualties and allow humanitarian aid.

Meanwhile, pressure from Arab and Muslim Americans disappointed with the pro-Israel policy, threatening not to support President Biden in next year's presidential election, is also a burden.

One White House aide explained that President Biden is not thinking about this issue politically and is trying to prevent a third world war.

Many senior officials fear that Israel will not restrain its attacks to reduce civilian casualties when conducting military operations in southern Gaza and elsewhere in the future, and that the longer the war continues, the more politically and diplomatically disadvantageous it will be for President Biden.

They judge that Israel's pace of attack is fast and that Israel lacks the resources needed for a prolonged war, hoping that the conflict will not extend into the main phase of next year's presidential election.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.