On May 12, the President of the United States (USA), Joe Biden, said that Israel has the right to defend itself when thousands of rockets are fired at its territory. He answered to one of the reporters who asked him about his views on the ongoing escalation in Israel. Biden said that he had a conversation with Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu and expected violence would end sooner than later.
Biden: “Israel has a right to defend itself when you have thousands of rockets flying into your territory.” pic.twitter.com/GfzL9gcjgi
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) May 12, 2021
He said, “My national security staff and Defense staff has been in constant contact with their counterparts in the Middle East — not just with the Israelis, but also with everyone from the Egyptians, to the Saudis, to the Emiratis, et cetera. And I had a conversation with Bibi Netanyahu not too long ago.
I’ll be putting out a statement very shortly on that. My expectation and hope is that this will be closing down sooner than later. But Israel has a right to defend itself when you have thousands of rockets flying into your territory. But I had a conversation for a while with the Prime Minister of Israel. And I think that my hope is that we’ll see this coming to a conclusion sooner than later.”
In an official readout of the call between the two readers, it was said, “He condemned the rocket attacks by Hamas and other terrorist groups, including against Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. He conveyed his unwavering support for Israel’s security and for Israel’s legitimate right to defend itself and its people while protecting civilians. He also conveyed the United States’ encouragement of a pathway toward restoring a sustainable calm.”
It has been reported that the Biden administration has been working behind the scenes with Egypt to push for the de-escalation in the region. The US States Department has urged all sides to de-escalate. Biden has been criticised repeatedly for de-prioritising the Israel-Palestinian peace agreement and had been urged by the more progressive wings of the Democratic Party to take active participation in the process.
Ex-President Trump had blamed Biden for the tension in Israel
On May 11, former President of the United States, Donald Trump had issued a statement and blamed Biden’s weakness has led to attacks on the US’s allies. He said, “Under Biden, the world is getting more violent and more unstable because Biden’s weakness and lack of support for Israel is leading to new attacks on our allies. America must always stand with Israel and make clear that the Palestinians must end the violence, terror, and rocket attacks, and make clear that the US will always strongly support Israel’s right to defend itself.”
Ongoing tension in Israel
The conflict between Israel and Palestine escalated when Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas fired multiple rockets at Jerusalem, and the Israeli Defense Forces responding in kind. The main reason behind the current conflict was a property dispute at the Sheikh Jarrah that may lead to the evictions of around 300 Palestinians from the East Jerusalem neighbourhood.
