Gaza War: Israel cancels White House visit following US failure to block UN ceasefire vote
The UN Security Council has passed a resolution calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza
In a change in position, the US refrained from vetoing the measure, which also calls for the release of hostages
The US move signals divergence with Israel, although the White House insists it’s not a policy shift
In response, Israel has cancelled its delegation’s planned visit to the White House this week
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls it a “clear retreat” from the previous US position
The US says it’s “very disappointed” by the cancelled visit but says a separate visit by Israel’s Defence Minister will go ahead
The Security Council resolution was approved by 14 votes to none, with one abstention from the US
For weeks, President Joe Biden and his senior officials have indicated that they’re losing patience with the way that Israel is fighting the war in Gaza.
The decision not to block the ceasefire resolution removes, for now, diplomatic protection from Israel at the UN Security Council and shows the depth of the rift that has opened up with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He condemned the US; saying the decision not to use the veto harms the war effort and attempts to free the hostages taken by Hamas on 7 October last year.
After the vote, the American Ambassador to the Security Council called the resolution non-binding. Usually Security Council resolutions are considered to carry the force of law.
President Biden wants the hostages out as well as the destruction of Hamas as a military force.
But from the very start of the war, he’s been telling Israel to respect international humanitarian law which includes an obligation to protect civilians.
The Israelis deny they block humanitarian aid but the Americans can see the evidence that Gaza is on the brink of famine, with children dying of hunger a few miles from ample stores of food in Israel and Egypt.
The US-Israel alliance is deep but at times it is highly dysfunctional. Crises happen when Israel defies the wishes of American Presidents, and what they see as US interests.
This isn’t the first time that Benjamin Netanyahu has infuriated the men in the White House ,he’s done so regularly since he first became Israel’s prime minister in 1996.
But no crisis in the long US-Israel alliance has been as serious as the one that’s developed in almost six months of the Gaza war.
