The White House considers that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is fabricating the public spat over a UN Security Council resolution in order to further his domestic political agenda, according to three US officials who spoke to Axios,
The Israeli prime minister also vented his public ire over what he perceives to be a plan by the White House and Congressional Democrats to damage his position as a politician within his own nation.
Netanyahu's Rejection Leaves White House Disappointed
The Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's response to the UN recovery seeking a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Hamas prisoners has left the White House disappointed and confused. Since the two partners' relationship hasn't deteriorated more, the US hasn't altered its stance.
The US has issued warnings that an Israeli incursion into Rafah, the southernmost city of Gaza, would result in a humanitarian catastrophe.
After discussing the UN resolution with Netanyahu's advisors, the US told him that it was likely to abstain. During these negotiations, the White House informed Netanyahu's advisors that the US abstention does not represent a change in policy and emphasized that the Biden administration does not view the UN resolution as binding.
Netanyahu said that if the US didn't oppose the resolution, he would cancel the Israeli delegation's travel to Washington to discuss the Rafah operation.
The US is confused as to why the prime minister chose to publicly voice his disagreements with the Biden administration, rejected the US interpretation of the UN resolution, and informed the United States of US policy when US policy has been made clear and differs from what Netanyahu is claiming.
According to a US official, the White House thinks Netanyahu overreached and is "perplexed" by it. Netanyahu rejected the US decision following the UN vote, calling it "a retreat from the consistent American position since the beginning of the war" and saying that the US absence "harms the war effort as well as the effort to liberate the hostages."
In a jab at President Joe Biden, who had requested the meetings, he said he was not sending an Israeli delegation to Washington to have high-level discussions with US authorities on an operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, according to Axios.
US Abstains Amid Netanyahu-Biden Tensions
The US declined to exercise its veto power over the ceasefire resolution, which also called for the return of all captives abducted during Hamas' surprise attack in southern Israel on October 7, and the 15-member Security Council of the UN adopted it 14-0. After the vote, there was loud clapping in the chamber.
The US's decision] to abstain comes with escalating hostilities between Netanyahu and President Joe Biden's administration on Israel's conduct of the war, the large number of civilian deaths, and the meagreness of humanitarian aid reaching Gaza.
Netanyahu's denial of a Palestinian state, Jewish settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, and the growth of settlements there have all caused tensions between the two nations.
Biden's criticism of Israel's tactics against Hamas exacerbated the already well-known hostility between Netanyahu and Biden.
The supporter of President Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, expressed doubts about Netanyahu's intentions and called for fresh elections in Israel. When Biden appeared to endorse Schumer's comments, Netanyahu chastised him.
The Israeli group was scheduled to brief White House officials on its plans for a potential military assault of Rafah, a city in southern Gaza near the Egyptian border where over a million Palestinian residents have taken refuge from the fighting, while in the US.
There is a serious humanitarian crisis in the area as the Gaza Health Ministry says that over 32,000 Palestinians have died in the continuing battle. An international body has said that "famine is imminent" in northern Gaza, and that a further escalation of the conflict may result in the starving of half of the 2.3 million people, Daily Mail reported.
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