White House disputes allegations of growing wedge between US and Israel
Christian Datoc
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The White House denied allegations on Tuesday that there is growing “space” between the United States and Israel amid Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
For weeks, the U.S. had stood by Israel’s air raids against Hamas targets in Gaza, despite the civilian casualties. On Monday, the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry said the death toll had surpassed 10,000. Due to Hamas’s control of the ministry, the Biden administration has cast doubt on the reported total.
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National Security Council spokesman John Kirby briefed reporters at the White House on Tuesday on the latest situational updates regarding the war, downplaying some slight but noticeable breaks between the two governments’ public statements in recent days.
When pressed on those breaks, Kirby claimed that the U.S.-Israel relationship remains “extremely close.”
“We remain solidly behind Israel as they continue to try to eliminate this threat to their people and to their sovereignty, and they’re going to continue to get security assistance from the United States,” he stated. “There’s no daylight there whatsoever.”
“Now, friends don’t have to agree on every single nuance and every single word. The prime minister speaks for a sovereign nation, for a sovereign people,” Kirby continued. “He should obviously, you know, be queried about the points that he’s making, but it doesn’t mean that we’re somehow backing away from our friend and our ally Israel, the strongest ally we have in the Middle East, or we’re backing off our support for what they’re trying to do to protect their people.”
President Joe Biden is facing growing domestic opposition to U.S. support for Israel’s operations in Gaza. Biden’s support from Muslim and Arab Americans has nearly halved since the fighting broke out after Oct. 7.
White House officials have stressed that while U.S. support for Israel remains strong, Biden has personally pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to abide by the rules of war while pursuing Hamas.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
You can watch Tuesday’s briefing in full below.
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