How Biden can overcome his ME credibility problem
President Joe Biden took a risk on May 31 by announcing a US plan that he hoped both Israel and Hamas would agree to. He said that the offer to Hamas was an Israeli plan, but before his words even reached the group’s leadership, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ruled it out.
Hamas, which had given its initial approval, might hesitate after hearing the Israeli negativity and Netanyahu’s insistence on not ending the war.
For Hamas officials, the last proposal that was given to them as a US-backed offer, which they also accepted only to have Israel reject it without any consequences, is still fresh in their memory.
After that acceptance by Hamas, Israel launched its attack on Rafah, capturing the EgyptPalestine border crossing and the entire Philadelphi Corridor, in violation of the Israel-Egypt peace treaty.
This is exactly the problem with the Biden administration’s policy. The American officials are fickle. They do not put real weight behind their own proposals. This time, Biden might hope that, by using the bully pulpit, he can get the Israelis to agree.
Whether it was done on purpose or not, the timing of the presidential statement appeared to have ensured at least a 24-hour window during which the hard-line religious Zionists in Israel would not be able to respond.
The announcement was made after Friday sundown in Israel, meaning that Cabinet ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, devout Jews who do not listen to the radio or watch TV on the Sabbath, would most likely not know of it and would surely not be able to respond until after sundown on Saturday.
Sundown on Saturday is exactly when the weekly protests by families of the hostages and others who want the war to end are at their climax. The American offer to save the lives of Israeli hostages came a day after Israel’s National
Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi appeared to dash any hopes of the hostages being released alive.
On Saturday night, a much more powerful demonstration took place. But that has hardly made a difference to the far-right Israelis who Netanyahu depends on to stay in power. Both Ben-Gvir and Smotrich have said they will force the government to collapse if Netanyahu agrees to the plan.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid has offered a safety net to ensure the government does not fall if the PM approves the ceasefire and prisoner release deal.
The potential for either or both sides to refuse the American offer is largely because Biden has been unable to say what he wants and to mean what he says. For months, the US president strongly advised Netanyahu not to invade Rafah, only to have the Israeli leader ignore the suggestions of Israel’s closest ally by bombing and then moving into Rafah. Why would the Israelis or Hamas believe that Biden is now serious?
One way to overcome such suspicions would be for Washington to turn the offer made publicly by Biden into a UN Security Council resolution it would support.
As Biden said, the world has been calling for a ceasefire and the UNSC is the perfect venue to translate words into action. An added ingredient could be using Chapter VII of the UN Charter when introducing such a resolution. This chapter is meant to be an international instrument to hold countries accountable by putting economic and even military pressure on them if they violate international law.
Biden can also follow the example of many European countries by recognizing the state of Palestine to demonstrate America’s support for the two-state solution. It makes no sense to repeat ad nauseum the term “two-state solution” without acting to make it a reality.
The US recognized Israel back in 1948 before it had any qualifications for statehood, while it is today preventing Palestine from being a full member of the UN even though it has all that is needed for a state. By inserting selfdetermination into his speech last week, Biden took an ideological step in that direction.