Could Biden force Netanyahu, into a ceasefire?

This is a far more complex situation than just having a sitting President attempt something to sway the foreign leader.

I’d say a simple “no”. Israel is literally fighting for their lives. They have been harassed and attacked since they founded the State of Israel in 1948. They are not the aggressors but they certainly aren’t going to take crap off people that want to wipe them off the face of the planet.

The USA has been an ally to Israel pretty much from the start. But Biden/Harris have really strained that relationship. And Netanyahu has no respect for Biden. He sees Biden as the puppet he really is. So Joe telling him to doing a ceasefire just because isn’t going to get anywhere.

And @Forever_Free is absolutely correct. The situation is far too complex for such a simple solution. What I don’t understand is why Biden isn’t trying to push Hamas into giving the hostages back. That is the crux of the current situation. Once the hostages were returned, the chances of Israel stopping military action goes way up. Hamas is the terrorist organization, Hamas instigated the military attacks, Hamas took hostages. They are the ones that should be talked to. But they have no more respect for Biden than Netanyahu does.

@MrGrimm888: _“Forcing a peace deal, is not the job of an outsider.
But. Could Biden halt the current status quo?“_

The United States is not an outsider. We are the reason for all of this. We send billions per year, and Biden admin has been sending billions more over the past 8 months. Additionally, over the years, the US has been the veto on all attempts to get Israel to follow international law. Traditionally, the US has been the supplier of > two thirds of all Israeli weapons. Germany (and Italy) have provided the other third. If the US were to stop funding this genocide today, Israel wouldn’t be able to continue – or would have massive incentive to stop terrorizing the Middle East.

@MrGrimm888: “What other cards does the US really have to play?”

It could stand with the rest of the world and demand that Israel follow international law. It could treat Israel as it truly is: a complete terrorist state in violation of human rights and genocide.

People try to pretend that the situation is complicated or that the US is just an observer. The truth is that couldn’t be more simple, and the US is complicit. None of this could have happened without the US, and Israel continues to annihilate Gazans, terrorize and steal land in the West Bank, and bring us all on the brink of a large-scale war because of the US.

Remember, those pushing for the end of slaughter don’t have any vague demands. These are concrete, pragmatic prescriptions that are reasonable and achievable. But even demands such as divestment are met with state violence against protestors here in the US.

Doubtful.

Israel is a sovereign country. Biden doesn’t have a lot of leverage. Sure, Israel and the US are tight, but Israel has other alliances it could make and prosper from (China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, for three) so if the US pushes to far, Netanyahu can play those cards.

But even then, it would be stupid to do so on Biden’s part, because of the huge sympathy for Israel (and respect for the holy land) by Jews and Christians alike. Biden isn’t going to throw that support out.

Further, if Hamas isn’t wiped out, it will simply reform and manifest itself as a terrorist group in another year or two, and we’ll do this all over again. So it isn’t in the US interest (and for that matter, most of the world’s) to avoid wiping out Hamas and fighting a similar Iranian war.

Keep in mind that all this is Iranian backed, and a cease fire with Hamas doesn’t do a thing to get rid of the Iran puppet managers.

I think the US, has more leverage than mentioned.

When Iran hit Israel with that “massive” drone and missile attack, it was the US (according to the reports,) that was largely responsible for defending Israel and it seems likely that that attack would have been far more damage, without the US.
The US “called in favors” from European allies, coordinated and executed the effort. The IDF got a lot if bragging rights, but they are far more vulnerable than the results of that attack illustrated.
The US (in addition to presence in preexisting bases in the region,) have positioned a carrier group, and a multitude of other NAVY assets, in the waters surrounding the area.

I know it’s complicated, and I am not trying to be reductive.

The US (despite it’s MANY flaws,) is still a big deal.
Biden is no longer running in 2024. So. It’s possible that he could act on his own, hoping to shield Harris from any more dirt.
A POTUS cannot start a war, without congress. However. Biden could likely order our NAVY presence to relocate.
As we already know, he could also reduce or halt weapons shipments to Israel, and financial aid.

Trump started the ball rolling, for the US leaving Afghanistan, and Biden did the dirty work.

Biden could be the “bad guy” again now, and get ugly with Netanyahu. As I said, peace can only be negotiated by the parties involved. But. I believe that with enough pressure, Biden could make Netanyahu pause.
Netanyahu does already dislike Biden. So no loss there.

The hostages mean a great deal, to their relatives and friends.
Bibi put them in the “casualties of war” category, before the sun went down on October 7th.

@elbanditoroso Hamas, and groups like it, cannot be “wiped out.” Ideas, and ideologies, cannot be killed. Only men…

Iran. Yes. They would continue to be a problem. However. Military analysts opine that Iran, is in no position to get involved in a war with Israel. Otherwise, they would have already struck Israel after the assassination of one of their leaders.
I think that some of the IDF air strkes in Iran, may have surprised the Iranians. I think that they believed that their defenses were more effective.
They may have been surprised by the repelling of their massive air attack too.

Western countries are pleading with Israel’s enemies to show restraint. But. Netanyahu will respond militarily, if there is any type of aggression, and his actions prove that he is constantly pushing the conflict into more extremes.

Wulf. I understand your position. Israel has gone far too far though. Let’s say there is no genocide (for arguments sake.)
There is still the fact that the IDF has committed war crimes, AND is careless about causing a larger war. I think they need to be less certain that the US, will keep them safe.

@hat I agree that Israel, and it’s military are products of heavy American support. I guess that’s why I think the US could make such a demand.

Iran won’t attack Israel. Not like we want. Israel and the US want them to. Gives Israel license to spread conflict and gives the USA pretext to go after Iran’s nuclear program. Iran’s leaders are smarter than this. They’ll wait, they’ll be come a nuclear power and then things will get different… And not in a good way.

Israel’s military is dependent on U.S. aid. The U.S. could cut off that aid. So yes, we could get them to do what we want, including a ceasefire. They are currently doing what we want, after all. Israel is only able to do what it wants because of U.S. support. They wouldn’t exist without it. But most importantly, neither Biden nor Trump nor Harris has any intention of cutting off aid to Israel. The war will continue, the billions will flow, and Gaza will be razed and thousands more will be killed.

Absolutely. We could withhold arms. If that didn’t work, we could enact a trade embargo. Genocide is unacceptable. We’re signatories to the treaty which legally obligates us to do everything we can to prevent genocide. What we’re doing is the moral equivalent of giving Hilter Zyklon B and then wagging our finger at him for not using it irresponsibly.

Doubtful.

To those who don’t feel that the US wouldn’t be able to stop Israel – to what end are we sending billions of dollars (another $20+ billion a few days ago) of weapons to them that they are using on the civilians of Gaza?

If the US didn’t fund this genocide, what would they be dropping on children? How would they be able to get away with this?

Of course, if an official enemy of the US had done a fraction of what Israel has done, the US would have been bombing Tel Aviv. But even within the framework that the US supports Israel – simply cutting off their funds and political support would cause this to end.

I’m really confused how the “it’s complicated” line, which is actually an intentional propaganda line used by people doing terrible things, has taken hold. There literally is nothing complicated about any of this.

The dead children we’re looking at daily died by weapons that I bought. And you bought. Directly. Israel said they need more of our bombs to drop on kids, so we handed them to Israel, told the world to fuck off. Pretending that we are an outside party to this atrocity is absurd.

^It seems pretty obvious, that many Americans are opposed to at least parts of Israel’s military campaign.
They “protest voted” in Michigan (I think,) to send that message.
And it’s still a big deal, to many.

What do we do, if our government doesn’t care what we think?