Public attacks by Biden administration and its allies are due to Netanyahu’s refusal to back Palestinian statehood, the Israeli premier claims.
By David Rosenberg, World Israel News
The Biden administration is targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state, Netanyahu told Israeli lawmakers Tuesday.
Over the past month, tensions between the Biden administration and the Netanyahu government – which have been on the rise even prior to the October 7th war – went public with a series of comments by President Biden and his allies, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Following his State of the Union address earlier this month, Biden told senior Democratic officials in a conversation caught on a hot mic that the Israeli premier needed a “come to Jesus moment” over his handling of the war in Gaza.
Last week, Schumer pilloried Netanyahu and called for snap elections in Israel and Netanyahu’s ouster – a dramatic break between the pro-Israel senator and the Israeli government.
A day later, Biden endorsed Schumer’s comments, calling his Senate floor address a “good speech.”
On Tuesday, Netanyahu told Israeli lawmakers that relations with the Biden administration had suffered due to differences of opinion on how to handle the ongoing war with Hamas, citing in particular Israel’s plans to carry out an operation in the last Hamas stronghold in Gaza, Rafah.
“We have a debate with the Americans over the need to enter Rafah, not over the need to eliminate Hamas, but the need to enter Rafah.”
“We see no way to eliminate Hamas militarily without destroying these remaining battalions. We are determined to do this.”
“I made it as clear as possible to the President that we are determined to complete the elimination of these battalions in Rafah, and there is no way to do this without a ground incursion.”
The Israeli premier added that the Biden administration is targeting him over his opposition to Palestinian statehood.
“The American attacks are focused on me, because I am blocking the establishment of a Palestinian state,” Netanyahu said at a hearing of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee.
Netanyahu defended his refusal to back Palestinian statehood, and to permit the Palestinian Authority leadership in Ramallah to reestablish control over the Gaza Strip after the current war with Hamas.
“The uncompromising aspiration of the entire Palestinian leadership in all its forms is the elimination of Zionism.”
The Israeli premier emphasized that the IDF must maintain full security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River.
“Between the Jordan and the sea, the only security control in any situation must be Israel’s.”
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