Biden repeats criticism of Netanyahu, says he is ‘hurting Israel more than helping’

U.S. President Joe Biden reaffirmed his support for Israel while repeating criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during an interview with MSNBC over the weekend.

Speaking to MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart after his State of the Union address, Biden appeared to contradict some of the statements he made regarding Israel’s upcoming military operation in Rafah. 

Capehart asked Biden if he had a “red line with Netanyahu” and specifically whether the Israel Defense Forces' ground operation in Rafah constituted a red line.

“It is a red line, but I’m never going to leave Israel,” Biden responded. “The defense of Israel is still critical, so there’s no red line [where] I’m going to cut off all weapons so they don’t have the Iron Dome to protect them.” 

Biden identified Palestinian deaths as a red line for his administration. 

“You cannot have another 30,000 Palestinians dead as a consequence of going after them [Hamas],” the president stated. 

In recent days, Biden has quoted death figures provided by the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry several times, without distinguishing between civilian and combatant deaths. The Health Ministry in Gaza also refuses to report how many of the deaths are members of Hamas.

The statistics published by the Gaza health authority have not been independently verified and seem to conflict with data provided by the Israeli government. For example, the Gaza Health Ministry reported around 31,000 deaths at the end of last week and claimed the majority of those deaths were women and children.

However, on Feb. 19, the IDF reported that it had eliminated more than 12,000 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) fighters. Israel estimates that almost half of the deaths in Gaza are combatants, which, if accurate, would represent one of the lowest civilian-to-combatant death ratios in any modern conflict

In the MSNBC interview, Biden also appeared to question the validity of the U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan following the events of Sept. 11, 2001. 

“The first time I went over, I sat with them, and I sat with the war cabinet,” Biden said, “I said, ‘Look, don’t make the mistake America made.’” 

He affirmed the U.S. pursuit of Osama Bin Laden, but said, “We shouldn’t have gone into the whole thing in Iraq and Afghanistan. It wasn’t necessary.” 

Biden also accused Netanyahu of “hurting Israel more than helping Israel,” although it was not clear what he was referring to, and Capehart did not press for details. 

Capehart asked Biden if he would be willing to return to Israel to address the Knesset regarding his concerns about the war, a ceasefire deal, and plans for Gaza after the war. 

Biden responded in the affirmative but refused to discuss the matter further. When asked if he would require an invitation from Netanyahu, or if an invitation from President Isaac Herzog is adequate, Biden responded: “I’d rather not discuss it more.” 

On Sunday morning, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz responded to Biden's comments, saying there is agreement on the goals of the war.

"The essence is that the United States supports the goals of the war. Biden wants a plan to evacuate civilians before entering Rafah. It is clear to us that they must be evacuated westward," Katz told Reshet Bet.

"This will be done before the start of the operation and during it. There is no interest in harming civilians."