WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden took a jibe at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a Time Magazine interview on Tuesday, stating that there was “every reason” to believe that he was prolonging the Gaza war in order to save his political career.
In addition, Biden stated that he and Netanyahu had a “major disagreement” over Gaza’s post-conflict future and that Israel had behaved in an “inappropriate” manner during the conflict that started on October 7 last year.
More broadly, the 81-year-old made his argument during the interview that he was more qualified than Donald Trump, his opponent in the election, to maintain US leadership as “the world power” on matters pertaining to Gaza, Taiwan, and Ukraine.
Days before he announced an Israeli plan for a truce in Gaza, which Netanyahu met coolly, Biden was asked in an interview with Time whether he thought the Israelis were prolonging the conflict for their own political benefit.
“There is every reason for people to draw that conclusion,” Biden replied.
As the number of deaths in Gaza has increased, Biden admitted that he and Netanyahu had strained relations and that they disagreed mostly over the necessity of establishing a Palestinian state.
“My major disagreement with Netanyahu is, what happens after… Gaza’s over? What, what does it go back to? Do Israeli forces go back in?” said the Democrat.
“The answer is, if that’s the case, it can’t work.”
One of the main tenets of Biden’s foreign policy has been the defense of Ukraine against Russia’s invasion, and he contended that he was better qualified than Trump to carry on that work in a second term.
The Russian military has been “freaking decimated,” according to Biden, who also stated that “ensuring that Russia never, ever, ever occupies Ukraine” is what peace looks like.
He also took aim at his Republican predecessor, who while in office made threats to sever long-standing US alliances and made overtures to some autocratic rulers.
Biden remarked, “All the bad guys are rooting for Trump, man.”
