Despite pressure from Biden, Netanyahu says poll reveals overwhelming US support for Gaza war

Biden said that because of Israel’s right-leaning government, ‘they’re going to lose support from around the world.’

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Despite Biden’s warning that Israel may “lose support from around the world” because of its conservative government and insistence on continuing the war in Gaza, Netanyahu cited a poll that showed overwhelming support for Israel’s military operation to eliminate Hamas.

Although the White House had supported Israel’s war against Hamas in the early stages, more recently, President Joe Biden described Israel’s military actions as “over the top” and warned against operations in Rafah because of the large number of civilians who have fled there.

On NBC‘s “Late Night with Seth Meyers” Biden said he hoped to see a temporary ceasefire and criticized the political slant of Israel’s government.

President Biden said that Israel has an “incredibly conservative government … and [far-right National Security Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir and others… they’re going to lose support from around the world. And that is not in Israel’s interest.”

However, on Tuesday Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu countered this by highlighting robust US support for Israel, including its war against Hamas.

“From the beginning of the war, I have been leading a diplomatic campaign whose goal is to thwart the pressure to end the war prematurely, and at the same time to also gain support for Israel,” said Netanyahu.

“We have significant successes in this area,” he added.

Netanyahu mentioned a Harvard Harris poll on February 21-22 of 2,022 registered US voters that found 82% supported Israel’s war against Hamas and 70% felt that Israel was taking precautions to avoid civilian casualties.

In addition, only 5% said Hamas was a favorable group and 56% said Hamas was a “very unfavorable” organization.

Netanyahu added that America’s enthusiastic support of Israel, “gives us another source of strength to continue our war against Hamas until total victory,” Netanyahu concluded.

Netanyahu has insisted that “total victory” was the ultimate goal in the war against Hamas and rejected previous hostage release deals which included an agreement that Israel would agree to a permanent ceasefire without eliminating Hamas as a military and political power.

Although there are reports that a new hostage release deal was imminent, Israel and Hamas have not confirmed there will be an agreement in place.

On the other hand, President Biden spoke of the deal as in process and said an agreement with a six-week pause in fighting could be implemented “over the weekend.”

Benjamin NetanyahuBiden Administrationgaza warIsraeli government