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Joe Biden’s national security council spokesman claimed on Sunday that despite several rounds of Israeli bombings and attacks across Lebanon, Benjamin Netanyahu still supposedly opposes the escalation of the conflict against Hamas and Hezbollah into a wider regional war.
He also downplayed the reports of increasingly frayed ties between Washington and Jerusalem, which emerged in the wake of recent strikes including one that killed a senior Hezbollah commander, Hassan Nasrallah. The US president was reported to have been frustrated and caught off-guard in the wake of the strike, which he viewed as a humiliation of his top diplomat, Antony Blinken.
Stating that President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have known each other for years, John Kirby said that the two “will never agree on everything” but do agree “on the big thing,” which he said was both the security of Israel as well as preventing further conflict around the Middle East.
But he evaded confirming or explaining reporting which indicated that relations had eroded to the point where US commanders were not notified of Israeli plans to kill Nasrallah until “planes were in the air.” He did indicate that the Biden administration was still not considering any efforts to limit the transfer of weaponry to Israel over concerns about how it was being used, stating that US support was “ironclad” when specifically asked about weapon transfers.
White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby downplays tensions between Biden and Netanyahu, telling @jaketapper they “agree on the big thing” of protecting Israel and preventing an all-out war. pic.twitter.com/TKYLusvNSo
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) September 29, 2024
Kirby also remained firmly wedded to a theme the Biden administration’s messaging has followed for months: steady urging against retaliation from Iran, which once again risks being drawn into the conflict as a top revolutionary guard (IRGC) officer was also present and killed in the strike targeting Nasrallah, which hit a suburb of Beirut.
“We’ve seen the rhetoric coming out of Tehran. We’ll watch and see what they do,” Kirby said. He went on to indicate that the US would take steps to ensure the defense of US assets and/or Israel if an Iranian response threatened either one.
“We will watch and see what they do.”
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) September 29, 2024
White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby joins @jaketapper to discuss Iran’s potential response to the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. pic.twitter.com/pKQLnRIOIT
Hundreds of people — mostly civilians — are reported dead in the wake of the Israeli attacks on Beirut and the country’s south. Israeli officials maintain that the strikes are closely targeted to hit Hezbollah targets, but the pattern of civilian carnage which has been exemplified by the Israeli pounding of the Gaza Strip’s residential areas is quickly being mirrored across Lebanon. A number of Hezbollah commanders were confirmed dead among the strike targeting Nasrallah, which took place on Friday.
The secretary general of the United Nations warned just days prior that the war in Gaza was on the verge of engulfing the entire Middle East in seemingly perpetual bloodshed.
The US president, meanwhile, offered an almost robotic comment on the situation, one he has held to since October 7, while giving remarks at the UN General Assembly in New York: "Now is the time for the parties to finalise the terms [of a ceasefire deal]. Bring the hostages home, secure security for Israel, and free Gaza from Hamas’s grip. Ease the suffering in Gaza and end this war."
But any deal to end the conflict, or even pause it, seems further away than ever before. A recent Wall Street Journal report indicated that top US officials no longer believe one is possible to be reached within the next few months, and the continued targeting of Hezbollah commanders and forces by Israeli forces in Lebanon seems to point to the conflict widening, rather than being contained to Gaza.
Polling on the issue of Israel/Gaza in the US is somewhat scattered but generally shows support for Israel’s security and the US’s role in it; however, it also indicates that significant numbers of Americans support conditioning military aid to Israel on meeting international standards which prevent the targeting of civilians.
