President Biden’s dramatic plan for the US military to build a port to supply aid to Gaza, a colossal logistical task, is a reminder both of America’s status as a superpower and the limits of that power.
Few other nations in the world, if any, would be able to contemplate such an ambitious project: a floating harbour to carry millions of tonnes of humanitarian aid directly to those in such desperate need. Of course, it will still take two months or so to construct, and is hardly an optimal solution but it is proof to those who accuse the White House of a callous disregard for the continuing human tragedy that President Biden is as moved by the plight of the Palestinian people as any protester with a placard outside 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Like the airdrops of aid along the coast of Gaza, this mission stands in the best traditions of American global leadership – reminiscent, for example, of the Berlin Airlift of 1949. A Spanish ship full of aid is harboured in Larnaca and ready to go, but it is unclear as to where it will unload its cargo. As ever, it depends on the Israelis.
Yet it should never have been necessary for the US, supported by Western allies, to have had to resort to such a measure. There are land routes into Israel that could be used much more effectively immediately with the cooperation of the Israelis, yet those supply lines are obviously not working effectively.
Famine looms. The Israeli government says that it is not blocking supplies and that the problems are logistical. Others say that the greatest logistical obstacles are caused by the perpetual bombardment of this densely populated tiny patch of land. Meanwhile, the surviving civilian population of Gaza around Rafah starves in tents while waiting for the Israeli tanks to roll in.
That is why this emergency floating harbour – Gaza has never enjoyed a functioning port – is a symbol of American weakness. Despite Israel’s heavy financial, military and diplomatic reliance on the US, America is simply unable to use its leverage to get the aid through via existing road routes. Nor, for that matter, has President Biden thus far enjoyed much success in persuading the Israeli premier, Benjamin Netanyahu, to change the way that he has prosecuted the war.
Mr Netanyahu and Mr Biden have both been around for a long time, are well-known to each other, and are political realists. Yet personal relations between the two have seemingly broken down so badly that the last round of bilateral talks in Washington were undertaken by vice-president Kamala Harris and Benny Gantz, de facto deputy premier in Israel’s war cabinet, and previously leader of the opposition. Mr Netanyahu was reportedly irritated by the visit. It is, at any rate, a damaging state of affairs for all concerned, including the people of Israel and of Palestine who yearn for peace.
Mr Biden hasn’t let up on his appeals to Mr Netanyahu about the conduct of the war – but is also unwilling to follow through on his veiled threats by, say, halting arms shipments, or lifting the US veto on critical resolutions at the United Nations. This painful ambiguity is epitomised in the president’s latest interview, with MSNBC, when he stated that the apparently still approaching ground invasion of Rafah would be a “red line” for the administration – but that “I’m never going to leave Israel”.
In an election year, weakening US backing for Israel is unthinkable and, in the final analysis, the American national interest is vested in the continuation of the state of Israel. But Israel should also understand that patience is wearing thin among its staunchest friends and allies abroad.
The language used by Lord Cameron, the British foreign secretary, is typical – increasingly exasperated and closer to an immediate ceasefire. It is telling, as well as distressing, that the ceasefire that the world is still waiting for – the ceasefire Mr Biden suggested was imminent – seems to be slipping away.
A large part of the explanation for the present impasse lies in the predicament Mr Netanyahu has landed himself in. Having failed to protect Israel’s security and prevent the atrocities committed by Hamas on 7 October, he is still little closer to freeing the remainder of the hostages and destroying Hamas for good. He fears facing the electorate before the war is “won”, and he still believes that mass destruction is the only way to achieve what passes for victory. Humanitarianism has always been secondary to that and remains so.
It is also plain that Mr Netanyahu is waiting for Donald Trump to return to the White House and once again tilt American policy to Mr Netanyahu’s liking, giving the Israeli premier all the cover he needs to control Gaza in any fashion he chooses. In that context, it is doubly concerning that the Israel Defence Forces are building a new east-west road across central Gaza. This is designed to facilitate rapid Israeli armoured deployment during any future conflict, and, it is feared, will allow Israel to prevent the movement of the inhabitants of Gaza north or south.
Under a second Trump presidency, there would be less talk about a two-state solution or Palestinian sovereignty and more tolerance of illegal Israeli settlers on Palestinian territory. None of that, however, would make Israel more secure in its borders, or more likely to normalise relations with its Arab neighbours.
Israel is an independent state with an instinct for survival, and a people ready to fight for the right of their state to exist. It is not an American colony, and should not be treated as such. Nonetheless, Israel’s friends have a right to be heard and to be listened to.
Mr Biden is right to speak out and he may yet need to step up the pressure on Israeli policymakers in more tangible ways. Perhaps the people in power in Israel will understand how much of the goodwill they attracted around the world after 7 October has been squandered. The weeks ahead will prove a difficult test for the American-Israeli special relationship, but even more so for those fearing for their lives in the dusty shelters of Rafah.
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