President Joe Biden faces growing pressure from liberals over how to handle the violent conflict in Israel, with the left wing of his party openly attacking his administration as he attempts to navigate one of the first foreign policy challenges of his presidency.
Biden has taken several opportunities this week to affirm the U.S. commitment to its ally, Israel, against attacks from Hamas, an Islamist militant group, as violence escalates in the region.
ISRAEL REBUFFS US CALLS FOR CEASEFIRE AS BLINKEN SENDS ENVOY TO REGION
He said Thursday he had not seen a “significant overreaction” from Israeli forces in responding to rocket attacks launched by Hamas and stated the U.S. goal was to see “a significant reduction in the attacks.”
A day earlier, Biden said he expected the clash to end in the days ahead.
“My expectation and hope is that this will be closing down sooner than later,” Biden said Wednesday. “But Israel has a right to defend itself when you have thousands of rockets flying into your territory.”
Liberal Democrats have taken issue with Biden’s public posture of support for the Israelis, however.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, accused Biden of making a blanket statement with his remarks on Wednesday and said of his claim that Israel has the right to defend itself: “It’s wrong.”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat, accused Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken of “having trouble finding the courage to speak up against Israel’s actions” on Wednesday.
And Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, demanded Biden intervene to stop Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, from which Hamas has fired rockets into Israel.
“This is happening on our dime,” Omar said on Wednesday. “President Biden needs to step in and deescalate to stop the carnage.”
Democratic critics of the administration’s approach have heaped pressure on Biden and Blinken to speak out about the events that preceded the violence that has already claimed dozens of lives.
Unrest began over the potential removal of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood near Jerusalem. A lengthy dispute over who owns the land under homes there created conditions in which tensions were running high, as Palestinians have lived in those homes since the late 1950s but feared an Israeli court was preparing to rule that the land did not belong to them.
Tensions boiled over earlier this week when violence broke out at the al Aqsa mosque, a Muslim holy site where Israeli police fired tear gas at people they said were rioting.
Hamas has since fired hundreds of rockets into Israel, and Israeli forces have responded by launching airstrikes at Gaza.
Twenty-five House Democrats signed a letter to Blinken this week urging him to condemn the potential evictions in Sheikh Jarrah. Democrats demanded the Biden administration pressure Israel into stopping the removals altogether — something Biden seems, so far, highly unlikely to do.
In a readout of Biden’s call on Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said Biden “conveyed his unwavering support for Israel’s security and for Israel’s legitimate right to defend itself and its people.”
But liberal lawmakers took issue with what the readout did not say: any mention of the evictions, the Israeli police activity at the al Aqsa mosque, or the growing number of Palestinians who have died in the airstrikes.
Responding to Biden’s talks with Netanyahu, Omar accused the White House of “siding with an oppressive occupation.”
A handful of House Democrats planned competing speeches on the floor for Thursday night, Jewish Insider reported, as different wings of the party clash over how the United States should respond.
The Israel dust-up is not the first rift that has opened up between Biden and the left flank of his party.
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Democrats slammed Biden’s decision last month not to raise annual limits on the number of refugees the U.S. would accept, prompting the White House to backtrack and lift the caps under pressure.
Some liberals have criticized Biden’s infrastructure proposal for not going far enough to expand government, despite its more than $2 trillion price tag.
And some liberals have put pressure on Biden to take up their causes on weakening the filibuster, packing the Supreme Court, and passing gun control legislation — all things Biden has paid lip service to but not prioritized or backed outright.
