Netanyahu Says He Will Defy Biden’s ‘Red Line’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this week that his government would defy the Biden administration in ordering an attack on the last major stronghold of the terrorist group Hamas. The prime minister’s statement came as the Biden White House has come under increasing pressure from left-wing activists and a decline in support from Arab and Muslim Americans ahead of the November election.
The prime minister said that the attack on Rafah would continue, despite Biden saying in a recent interview that he did not want to see “30,000 more Palestinians dead.”
“We’ll go there, we’re not going to leave. You know, I have a red line,” said Netanyahu.
“You know what the red line is, that October 7 doesn’t happen again. Never happens again,” said the prime minister.
The prime minister previously said that an attack on the city would eventually occur regardless of any temporary ceasefire.
President Joe Biden has increased his criticism of the prime minister in recent weeks as Israel prepares for what may be the last major element of its war against Hamas.
The president has made different statements in the last week regarding the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. After Thursday’s State of the Union address, the president can be heard saying that there needs to be a “come to Jesus” moment for Netanyahu.
The president previously stated that an attack on the last Hamas stronghold of Rafah would be a “red line.”
IDF’s military campaign has been an extraordinary success. Hamas’s last hope is Biden saving them. Israelis won’t agree to let Hamas & its resupply tunnels survive in Rafah.
WH doesn’t understand this isn’t about Bibi who is unpopular in Israel. It’s about Israel’s survival.
— Mark Dubowitz (@mdubowitz) March 10, 2024
However, the president said in an MSNBC interview that there would be “no red line” in which he would cut off all weapons to Israel, including its successful Iron Dome anti-missile system.
Biden said “I am never going to leave Israel” during his interview.
Biden criticized Netanyahu’s approach to the war, saying that the prime minister had a “right to defend Israel, a right to continue to pursue Hamas, but he must, he must, he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken.”
