The only way to end this war is for Biden to force Netanyahu out
The Guardian Weekly|December 22, 2023
Joe Biden's bond with Israel and the J Jewish people runs so deep he is said to feel it in his kishkes (that's "guts", for the non-Yiddish speakers among you).
The only way to end this war is for Biden to force Netanyahu out

Biden demonstrated that early in the current crisis by visiting Israel within days of the 7 October massacre, which saw 1,200 Israelis, most of them civilians, killed, many tortured and mutilated. He demonstrated it again, just as swiftly, with the dispatch of two US aircraft carriers to the region, aimed at deterring Hezbollah and its Iranian backers from attacking Israel from the north - his one-word message: "Don't." And he showed it once more this month, wielding the US veto at the United Nations - making Washington all but a lone voice against the global chorus demanding that Israel end its offensive in Gaza, which has left so many thousands dead.

But there is one last act of service Biden needs to perform for the sake of the Israel he has stood with so long, a task he is uniquely able to execute. He must push Benjamin Netanyahu from power - and do all he can to ensure he does not return. Right now, the focus of US-Israeli relations is on the clock, on how long Washington will give its ally - which it arms - to pursue its stated goal of defeating Hamas, even at the cost of terrible death and destruction in Gaza. Hints that Biden's patience is wearing thin are getting louder. Last week he warned that Israel is "starting to lose [international] support by the indiscriminate bombing that takes place". The signals are that Israel has until the middle or end of January to keep up what the White House calls "high-intensity military operations". After that, it will have to move to "a different phase" - one that consists of focused, targeted raids on Hamas strongholds, with fewer civilian casualties.

This story is from the December 22, 2023 edition of The Guardian Weekly.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the December 22, 2023 edition of The Guardian Weekly.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM THE GUARDIAN WEEKLYView All
Democracy Comes Under Scrutiny Amid Battle To Buy Basics
The Guardian Weekly

Democracy Comes Under Scrutiny Amid Battle To Buy Basics

After 25 years, Nigeria's role as the region's police officer is in jeopardy, with its people losing faith in a squeezed economy

time-read
3 mins  |
June 07, 2024
Civil War And Bloodshed? Conviction Infuriates Trump's Base
The Guardian Weekly

Civil War And Bloodshed? Conviction Infuriates Trump's Base

The posts are ominous. “Pick a side, or YOU are next,” wrote conservative talk show host Dan Bongino on the Truth Social media platform in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s 34 felony convictions.

time-read
4 mins  |
June 07, 2024
'Forever War' Risk Grows As Militants Return To Gaza's North
The Guardian Weekly

'Forever War' Risk Grows As Militants Return To Gaza's North

Israel could inherit an insurgency, warns the US, after Hamas regains strength in areas it was forced to flee

time-read
4 mins  |
June 07, 2024
A stranger for ever A family's struggles after the second world war are intimately captured across continents and generations
The Guardian Weekly

A stranger for ever A family's struggles after the second world war are intimately captured across continents and generations

Here are some of the events that are not described in Claire Messud's ambitious novel about the lives of three generations of a Franco-Algerian family: the Algerian war of independence, as a result of which the Cassar family lose their home and national identity; the two years the family's most promising scion spends as a student in Paris, during which he endures something (racist bullying? Mental collapse?) that blights his adult life; his sister's broken-hearted suicide attempt; the courtship of a couple who have been held up throughout the novel as exemplars of married love and yet whose relationship - as we discover in the final pages - was shockingly transgressive.

time-read
2 mins  |
June 07, 2024
Concrete comfort
The Guardian Weekly

Concrete comfort

China's 'lying flat' generation is drawn to seek spiritual solace among the brutalist blocks of the exclusive Aranya resort by innovative architecture and the power of social media

time-read
5 mins  |
June 07, 2024
MONEY MONEY MONEY
The Guardian Weekly

MONEY MONEY MONEY

TAYLOR SWIFT'S NEW ALBUM, The Tortured Poets Department, is not one of her best.

time-read
10+ mins  |
June 07, 2024
MY SECRET GERMAN GRANDAD
The Guardian Weekly

MY SECRET GERMAN GRANDAD

Women who 'fraternised' with German prisoners of war horrified British society. Could one of these illicit liaisons explain a mystery at the heart of Leo Hickman's family tree?

time-read
10+ mins  |
June 07, 2024
Sheinbaum signals hope, but can she pursue her own agenda?
The Guardian Weekly

Sheinbaum signals hope, but can she pursue her own agenda?

A month ago in Chiapas, a Mexican state caught in a bloody battle between criminal groups, a car carrying the front runner to be the country's next president was stopped by a group of masked men.

time-read
3 mins  |
June 07, 2024
Score draw Why anime is firing up young sports stars
The Guardian Weekly

Score draw Why anime is firing up young sports stars

The Bournemouth footballer Dominic Solanke twice thought he had scored the opening goal in a Premier League game against Brentford last month.

time-read
3 mins  |
June 07, 2024
Kingmaker How will Meloni use her growing influence on EU politics?
The Guardian Weekly

Kingmaker How will Meloni use her growing influence on EU politics?

Italy's far-right leader has so far been a model European. But this weekend's EU elections may reveal her hand

time-read
3 mins  |
June 07, 2024