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In the longstanding U.S.-Israel alliance, the former has always been regarded as the more senior partner. The U.S., after all, is an economic and military powerhouse. It’s the biggest supplier of military aid to Israel, providing $3.8 billion in assistance per year. It also acts as Israel’s chief defender at international forums such as the U.N. Security Council, where Washington routinely uses its veto power to block resolutions critical of Israel.
While this dynamic has earned the U.S. the designation of being Israel’s closest ally, it hasn’t always worked to its own interests in the region. Growing frustration within the Biden administration over the Israeli government’s handling of its months-long war to root out Hamas from Gaza has spilled into public view in recent weeks, with reports of President Biden privately referring to his Israeli counterpart Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as an “asshole” whose handling of the war he has been publicly derided as being “over the top.”
But despite Washington’s considerable leverage on Israel, the Biden administration has so far proven itself seemingly unable, or unwilling, to wield it—a reality that hasn’t gone unnoticed at home or abroad. Calls to introduce conditions on U.S. aid to Israel have grown within Congress. Some U.S. allies have urged Washington to do the same.
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“When the United States of America stands up and says something publicly, it matters,” State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Monday in response to a question by the Associated Press’s Matt Lee, who asked how the U.S. has used its leverage beyond simply “wagging its finger.” “We have seen the government of Israel respond to it—not always in the way we want, not always to the degree or the level that we want,” Miller continued.“But our interventions, we believe, have had an impact.”
That hasn’t always borne out….
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