Advertising
Supported by
Nicholas Kristof
By Nicolas Kristof
Opinion Columnist
President Biden is more difficult with Israel those days and shows more compassion for the other people starving in Gaza. “There are many other innocent people who are suffering and dying,” Biden said. “And this has to stop. “
in fact, the scenario may worsen if Israel invades Rafah or if hunger turns into famine. And Biden’s fear of the Palestinians falls hollow to me, as he didn’t need to rely on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end it.
So now we find ourselves in a situation: U. S. bombs and aid are falling from the sky on Gaza.
In 1948, the United States and its allies undertook the well-known Berlin Airlift to save West Berlin from the Soviet blockade. We are now involved in another humanitarian airlift, this time because of movements that are not from an enemy but from our partner. Israel insists on thorough inspections of each and every aid truck entering Gaza. A senior administration official told me that Israel rejects entire trucks if they are emergency delivery kits, because they come with a small scalpel to cut the umbilical cord. UNICEF tells me that Israel refuses to allow them to install portable toilets. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Jeff Merkley went to the Gaza border and discovered that Israel had blocked water purifiers. A British lawmaker said Israel had blocked 2,560 solar lamps.
As Biden has failed to convince Israel to mitigate this nonsense and allow enough aid to avert famine, he has opted for airdrops and a maritime room, something more than anything and also woefully inadequate. Cindy McCain, director of the United Nations World Food Program, warns that the road to Gaza is critical and that “if we do not exponentially increase the volume of aid to the northern regions, famine is imminent. “
Diplomacy is as much about forcing arms as it is about persuading, but Biden doesn’t seem willing to act in a way that gives force to his words. Simply put, Netanyahu ignores the White House because he doesn’t put a price on anything.
We are retrieving the content of the article.
Please allow javascript in your browser settings.
Thank you for your patience as we determine access. If you’re in Reader mode, log out and log in to your Times account or subscribe to the full Times.
Thank you for your patience as we determine access.
Already a subscriber? Sign in.
Want all the Times? Subscribe.
Advertising