Akbar Shahid Ahmed is the author of Crossing the Red Line: Biden, His Advisors, and Israel’s War in Gaza. He is the diplomatic correspondent for the Washington Sun.
Biden administration officials like Antony Blinken and Brett McGurk have embarked on media tours trying to whitewash their records over Israel’s destruction of Gaza. Their excuses for enabling genocide are as flimsy and threadbare as their ethical codes.
The people of Gaza are starving because of a man-made famine as Israel draws up plans for a full-scale military occupation. US government officials haven’t just turned a blind eye to the historic atrocities in Gaza — they’ve been cheering them on.
The Israeli government spent months obstructing a cease-fire deal in Gaza while the US refused to apply pressure. Israel’s leaders are keen to resume the onslaught while ramping up violence in the West Bank if Washington allows it.
Joe Biden talked about wanting a cease-fire, but he continued sending weapons to Israel and refused to apply any pressure to end the attack on Gaza. That refusal, cosigned by Kamala Harris, is an integral part of both their legacies.
Benjamin Netanyahu can hardly believe the leeway Joe Biden has given him through eight months of carnage. Biden has joined Republican attacks on his own base rather than impose any limits on an Israeli campaign that has killed over 37,000 Palestinians.
US officials suggested that Israel would have to shift to a “lower-intensity” campaign in Gaza from the new year. But Joe Biden is still unwilling to apply any serious pressure, even if his support for Israel’s war threatens to hand victory to Donald Trump.