Akbar Shahid Ahmed is the senior diplomatic correspondent for the Huffington Post.
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.