{"id":15104,"date":"2024-01-01T23:44:23","date_gmt":"2024-01-02T07:44:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=15104"},"modified":"2023-12-31T23:47:08","modified_gmt":"2024-01-01T07:47:08","slug":"the-u-s-and-israel-an-embrace-shows-signs-of-strain-after-oct-7-the-new-york-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=15104","title":{"rendered":"“The U.S. and Israel: An Embrace Shows Signs of Strain After Oct. 7”, The New York Times"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By\u00a0Peter Baker<\/a>,\u00a0Edward Wong<\/a>,\u00a0Julian E. Barnes<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Isabel Kershner<\/a>, reporting from Washington and Jerusalem and in some cases traveling with President Biden and Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken to the region, front page lead, January 1, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No other episode in the past half-century has tested the relationship between the United States and Israel in such an intense and consequential way as the Israel-Hamas war of 2023.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"President<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

President Biden was getting ready to leave the White House for an audacious flight to Israel to demonstrate solidarity after the\u00a0Oct. 7 terrorist attack<\/a>\u00a0when suddenly the trip seemed to be falling apart before it even began<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An explosion at a Gaza hospital<\/a> had reportedly killed or wounded hundreds, the Palestinians were blaming Israel, and Arab leaders were refusing to meet with Mr. Biden when he arrived in the region. The president summoned advisers to the Treaty Room on the second floor of the White House family quarters to answer the question: Should he still go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A robust debate broke out between his national security and political advisers. Some in the room urged Mr. Biden to scrap the trip. It was not clear what could be accomplished. It might not even be safe. What if Hamas launched rockets at Ben-Gurion International Airport when Air Force One approached? Where would the president land then?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"People
The site of the Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City after an explosion in October.Credit…Shadi Al-Tabatibi\/Agence France-Presse \u2014 Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Others argued that he needed to go anyway. He had already announced the visit<\/a>. They should not lurch from one decision to another. And preliminary U.S. intelligence indicated that Israel was not responsible for the hospital explosion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, Mr. Biden weighed in. \u201cI\u2019ve got to go,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve got to see these guys face to face.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That decision, perhaps more than any other, would come to define Mr. Biden\u2019s approach to what has become the most divisive foreign policy crisis of his presidency. He had to go. He had to see them face to face. <\/em>With that, he effectively took ownership of the war that would follow in all its overpowering brutality, managing it personally at great political risk to himself at home and abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No other episode in the past half-century has tested the ties between the United States and Israel in such an intense and consequential way. The complicated diplomacy<\/a> between Washington and Jerusalem since Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 people and seized 240 hostages has played out across both governments, in direct interactions between the leaders and intense back and forth between military and intelligence agencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mr.
Mr. Biden and Mr. Netanyahu talking in Israel on Oct. 18.Credit…Kenny Holston\/The New York Times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The resolve of that dramatic presidential trip<\/a> to Israel has given way to frustrating phone calls, sharp public comments and exhausting marathon meetings. The relationship has grown increasingly fraught as Mr. Biden has involved himself more intensely in the conflict than almost any other issue in three years in office. The president and his team have intervened time and again to steer Israel away from what they consider the excesses of its retaliation only to have the Israelis defy them at critical moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Biden has seen growing internal resistance<\/a> to his backing of Israel, including multiple dissent cables from State Department diplomats. In November, more than 500 political appointees and staff members representing some 40 government agencies sent a letter to Mr. Biden protesting his support of Israel\u2019s war in Gaza. Congressional Democrats have been pressing him to curb Israel\u2019s assault, and the United States has found itself at odds with other countries at the United Nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The friction appears to be coming to a head as the new year arrives. The Biden team recognizes that its challenge is not just Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, since Israelis across the board support the military operation that according to the Gaza Health Ministry has killed more than 20,000 people. But there is no serious discussion inside the administration of a meaningful change in policy, like cutting off the arms supply to Israel. Instead, Mr. Biden remains determined to navigate the crisis within the crisis by using the credibility he earned through steadfast support of Israel to shape its next chapter, although it is unclear how much leverage that gives him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ron
Ron Dermer, Israel\u2019s minister of strategic affairs, in Washington last week.Credit…Andrew Caballero-Reynolds\/Agence France-Presse \u2014 Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During a tense conversation a week ago, Mr. Biden pressed Mr. Netanyahu to scale back the war to a surgical operation relying more on special forces raids targeting Hamas leaders and tunnels than wide-scale bombing. The Israeli leader then sent his right-hand adviser<\/a>, Ron Dermer, to Washington for what ended up being a nearly four-hour meeting at the White House the day after Christmas, where he assured Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, that Israel would soon shift to the targeted phase that Mr. Biden has been urging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first signs of such a shift could be seen in the coming weeks as Israeli forces wrap up operations in northern Gaza and begin withdrawing many troops from that area, Mr. Dermer told them. But he did not give a firm timetable, and the Americans pressed him to begin the transition sooner rather than later. Mr. Blinken plans to head back to Israel in early January, when Israeli officials hope to give him a decision on next steps<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, Mr. Biden\u2019s team has been quietly working to negotiate a new hostage deal. William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director, met with his Israeli counterpart and Qatar\u2019s prime minister<\/a> in Warsaw earlier in December to advance a proposal for a seven-day halt to the fighting in exchange for the release of another 35 to 40 people seized on Oct. 7, including civilian women, badly wounded men and other men over 60 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Secretary
Mr. Biden has relied on officials including Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, center, and Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, right, as he responds to the war.Credit…Kenny Holston\/The New York Times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And there are even quieter efforts underway to negotiate through intermediaries an arrangement with Hezbollah<\/a> to pull back from the area near Lebanon\u2019s border with Israel, preventing the eruption of a wider war in the region and allowing tens of thousands of Israelis who have fled their homes to return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This account of the relationship between the United States and Israel over the past 12 weeks is based on multiple interviews and trips to the region with key American and Israeli officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details of internal conversations and deliberations. It is a complicated story where officials on both sides say public assumptions do not always match the private reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n