Netanyahu ‘hurting Israel more than helping’: Biden

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden said Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is “hurting Israel more than helping” with his handling of the war with Hamas, even as Biden stressed he would not abandon support for Israel.

“What’s happening is he has a right to defend Israel, a right to continue to pursue Hamas,” Biden told an international media outlet on Saturday. “But he must, he must, he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken.

“In my view, he’s hurting Israel more than helping Israel […] it’s contrary to what Israel stands for. And I think it’s a big mistake,” Biden added.

More than 30,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and 69,465 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7.

In what was a contradictory exchange with his interviewer, Biden said “they cannot have 30,000 more Palestinians dead as a consequence of going after” Hamas militants.

Asked whether an Israeli invasion of Rafah would be a red line for him with Netanyahu, Biden said: “It is a red line but I’m never going to leave Israel. The defense of Israel is still critical. So there’s no red line (in which) I’m going to cut off all weapons so they don’t have the Iron Dome to protect them.”

Biden insisted, however, that Netanyahu “must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken.”

He reiterated his call for a six-week ceasefire for hostage releases and aid delivery, though negotiations appear to have stalled Biden announced during Thursday’s State of the Union plans for the U.S. military to lead the construction of a port along the coast of Gaza on the Mediterranean Sea to boost the amount of aid getting to Palestinian civilians.

Progressives have called for the White House to back a permanent cease-fire in the conflict, but Biden and others have said such an agreement would allow Hamas to regroup. Instead, the administration has instead backed a temporary pause in fighting that would last at least six weeks and allow hostages to get out and more aid to get into Gaza.

On Tuesday, more than a quarter million voters cast ballots for “uncommitted” or “no preference” in Democratic primaries, largely viewed as a protest of Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

“I don’t blame them for being upset. There’s families there. There are people who are dying. They want something done about it. And they’re saying, Joe, do something, do something,” Biden said Saturday on MSNBC.

“But the idea that they all think it’s genocide is just not — that’s a different situation,” he added.