If it works, it will be a smart and astute diplomatic move.
If not, then president Joe Biden It will look silly.
He knows the enormous risk of being fooled once again by the Israeli Prime Minister. Benjamin Netanyahu.
Few knew he had to make this announcement.
It was mid-morning when White House staff revealed that the president would “make comments” on the middle East of the State Dining Room.
Until then it was expected that he would be able to speak about Trump’s verdict.
Israel-Gaza most recent:
Biden makes a surprise announcement
Speculation then centered on whether the comments would be about Rafah (the weekend Israeli attack and its troops in the city center of Rafah), all two toes of Biden’s calls for restraint.
When the president came forward, he spoke first about the Trump trial, a moment for America that he could not ignore.
“The American principle that no one is above the law was reaffirmed,” he said.
Then he turned to his news, the Middle East, a much more important topic than the criminal antics of a former president.
Intentionally, no doubt, he was able in a speech to show statesmanship on global issues while Donald Trump absorbed his own outlaw status. Intelligent.
Then the meat your announcement in the Middle East.
Biden urged leaders on both sides not to
“It is time for this war to end and for it to begin the day after,” he said. These are the 14 words he wants to be remembered by.
They are, Biden said, a “comprehensive new proposal… a roadmap” on the table that Israel had agreed to.
He was presenting it all as if it were an Israeli proposal.
But don’t be fooled. Netanyahu would hardly let Biden announce it if that were the case.
Initial rumors from Israel were that they had been taken by surprise.
It was beginning to become clear that the White House was making a play.
President Biden has drawn red lines in this war that have been trampled.
Now the time had come when he was drawing a different line: a line under war. Enough is enough, she said, it’s time for this to end.
He explained why now was the time. Hamas, he said, had been degraded to such a point that he could no longer repeat an attack like the one on October 7.
He claimed that Israel had agreed to the plan, but did not explain exactly who within the divided Israeli war cabinet had done so.
Hamas was undoubtedly taken by surprise. They knew that there was a new low-level proposal on the table, but not that the American president was going to announce it from the White House.
The announcement was not reported as is usually the case with these things. It was kept secret until the last moment.
Even the European allies were taken by surprise. Britain and others knew that there was some kind of new proposal on the table and that Biden would want to seize the moment, but only when a hostage deal had actually been reached.
Sources have told us that Secretary of State Antony Blinken only informed Foreign Secretary David Cameron of the content of the president’s speech at a NATO meeting this morning.
A “phased agreement”, the “release of hostages for prisoners”, the “withdrawal of Israeli forces” – if this all sounds familiar, that’s because it is. We have been here before, many times.
The difference this time is that it comes with a public push from the White House.
A frustrated president is short-circuiting a process to reassert control. He remembers that Gaza is hurting him politically in the United States, as the death toll has continued to rise.
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My feeling is that he is misleading both parties, trying to make it impossible for them to reject the agreement.
Never before in this long war has President Biden expressed his support for ending the war in such terms.
Remember, he is an ardent supporter of Israel and Zionism. Until today, he had not believed that the war should end.
Footage shows large numbers of Gazans leaving Rafah with as much personal belongings as they can carry.
But his patience ran out. At times in his 15-minute speech, he seemed to be dodging Netanyahu entirely.
“And I want to be honest with you today about where we are and what could be possible. But I need your help. Everyone who wants peace now must raise their voices and let the leaders know that they must accept this agreement,” he said.
Suddenly he was speaking the words of many: American college protesters, many European and Middle Eastern leaders, and, of course, the Americans whose votes he needs in November.
It’s a gamble with so many unknowns, but it’s the biggest chance yet to end the horror in Gaza.
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
