Following the killing of seven foreign aid workers in Gaza, Joe Biden has called for an immediate ceasefire and better access to aid for Palestinians as their starvation and suffering intensify. Even now, though, the US president refuses to pull the plug on the Israeli war effort, despite being in the unique position of having the power to do so.
Biden’s reluctance to meaningfully act is in part due to his decades-long commitment to Israel, which first showed itself when he was a young senator back in 1973. But it is also a tactical move. With an election looming, he is trying to play to two different audiences at the same time: Democrats increasingly angry at Binyamin Netanyahu’s behaviour, and Republicans, especially Christian Zionists, steadfast in their support for Israel.
Trying to appease both camps has created an extraordinary situation in which the Pentagon has committed to building a port for relief supplies for Palestinians in Gaza while also providing the Israeli Defense Forces with the weapons to kill those same people.
