US President Joe Biden and his administration should seize the opportunity to convince Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a Gaza cease-fire deal as Biden proposed in May, instead of fueling conflict and regional instability, analysts said.
Netanyahu, who left for the United States on July 22, visits Washington at a critical time as Biden is making way for Vice-President Kamala Harris to run the US presidential race and recovering from COVID-19 caught last week. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) also ruled on July 19 that Israel’s presence in Palestinian territory was unlawful.
Both Israeli and US media reported the leaders’ meetings will go ahead as planned with the Israel-Palestine conflict high on the agenda. Netanyahu is also scheduled to speak before the US Congress on July 24, according to US media outlet PBS News.
Farhan Mujahid Chak, visiting faculty at the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, told China Daily it would be a missed opportunity if Biden is unable to convince Netanyahu to close a cease-fire deal with Palestinian militant group Hamas.
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“This is very timely, very important,” said Chak, noting the significance of Biden’s meeting with Netanyahu on the cease-fire deal coming at the same moment he announced he was stepping down from the presidential race.
“Everybody in the world is disgusted how (a country can) so blatantly ignore international human rights law and the Geneva conventions, the direct targeting of women and children, refugee camps, hospitals, schools, the United Nations, and the World Central Kitchen (aid) workers. You name it. It’s beyond words,” he added.
Chak said forcing Netanyahu to agree to a cease-fire deal was a way Biden could “salvage his lost legacy” as the Palestinian death toll from Israel’s ongoing retaliatory strikes neared 39,000 on July 21.
“For Israel to stop its genocide, this is the one thing he can do to salvage it. Will he take this opportunity? There might be a chance of that … Now that he’s going to be leaving office, people are usually free to do as they are morally inclined to do,” said Chak.
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In May, Biden proposed a three-phase cease-fire deal with the first phase lasting for six weeks and including a “full and complete cease-fire”.
Phase one would also see a withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas of Gaza and the release of some hostages — including women, the elderly, and the wounded — in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
The second phase would include the release of all remaining living hostages — including male soldiers — and Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza. The third phase would kick off a reconstruction of Gaza, which has been flattened nine months into the conflict.
Ayman Yousef, a professor of International Relations at the Arab American University in Jenin in the West Bank, said Netanyahu’s visit to the US is an opportunity for Republicans and Democrats to drum up support for their respective presidential campaigns.
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Yousef noted that Netanyahu’s invitation came from US Congressional leaders from both parties, with the letter signed by two Republicans — House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell —and two Democrats — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
In Netanyahu’s meeting with Biden, Yousef said it would not only be about Biden himself but the Democratic Party in general as Netanyahu has a “substantial influence” within the US Jewish lobby, mainly with the Jewish American community.
“This is a chance for the Democratic Party to face Netanyahu and put more pressure on him, not only to go for a political deal with Hamas in the Gaza Strip but also to avoid any negative intervention by Netanyahu in the coming US elections,” said Yousef.
Jawaid Iqbal, chairman of the Department of West Asian and North African Studies at Aligarh Muslim University in India, told China Daily it was naive to think that the meeting between Biden and Netanyahu “will change the course on genocide”.
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Iqbal noted that the US military recently announced the dismantling of the “ineffectual floating pier” that had been providing aid to Gaza’s starving population.
He said the floating pier was merely optics to stem the international outcry against Israel’s atrocities in Gaza, noting that it lasted just 25 days.
“The US has already disregarded the import of the ICJ ruling against Israeli occupation,” he said.
“As far as the release of hostages goes, Israel is pursuing this not through negotiations but through maximum pressure on Gazan civilians so that Hamas is forced to surrender,” said Iqbal.
“In substantive terms, the US supply of arms — like the 2,000-pound bombs — will not stop,” he added.
