March 28, 2024 (EIRNS)—Over a 24-hour period, the Netanyahu government in Israel performed a temporary pullback from their March 25 hissy fit with the Biden administration. That was when the Israeli Prime Minister ordered his two senior aides away from the promised consultation in Washington with the Biden administration. The U.S. had withheld their veto and allowed that morning a UN resolution for an immediate ceasefire to proceed; and, even though private assurances had been conveyed to Netanyahu that the ceasefire vote didn’t really mean anything, he evidently felt scorned.
The next day, March 26, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was in the New York Times with a not-so-subtle message: “Presently, Biden prefers the line of [Congresswoman] Rashida Tlaib and [Hamas military leader] Sinwar to the line of Benjamin Netanyahu and Ben Gvir. I would have expected the president of the United States not to take their line, but rather to take ours.” From that shot across the bow to yesterday’s events, some motion occurred.
Yesterday, Netanyahu, after meeting with U.S. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), began walking back the confrontation. “I thought the U.S. decision in the Security Council [not to veto] was a very, very bad move.” But it turns out, Netanyahu’s cancellation of discussions in Washington wasn’t really a message to the Biden administration. He explained: “The worst part about it… was that it encouraged Hamas to take a hard line and to believe that international pressure will prevent Israel from freeing the hostages and destroying Hamas.” So, Netanyahu had to clean up Washington’s mistake, and canceling “was a message first and foremost to Hamas: ‘Don’t bet on this pressure, it’s not going to work’. I hope they got the message.” So, no hard feelings, Washington; I wasn’t mad at you.
