Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Netanyahu rebukes Biden for recent warnings to Israel

In a video message to an AIPAC conference Tuesday, the prime minister took aim at world leaders who have publicly opposed a ground operation in Rafah

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized President Joe Biden and other world leaders Tuesday for saying they support Israel’s war against Hamas but opposing a ground operation in Rafah.

“You cannot say you support Israel’s goal of destroying Hamas, and then oppose Israel when it takes the actions necessary to achieve that goal,” Netanyahu said in the virtual address to 1,600 AIPAC leaders and activists at its national congressional summit in Washington.

Biden has increased the pressure on Israel in recent days, warning that a promised Israeli military operation in the Gazan city of Rafah, without plans for evacuating more than a million displaced Palestinians who are sheltering there, would cross a “red line” for his administration.

Administration officials have been discussing the possibility of imposing conditions on future military aid to Israel if its offensive in the southern Gaza Strip goes forward and risks civilian lives,  Politico reported on Monday. Netanyahu told the AIPAC conference that Israel would protect civilians in Rafah, and that he deeply appreciates Biden’s support and hopes it will continue. “But let me be clear,” he added, “Israel will win this war, no matter what. Israel will finish the job in Rafah, while enabling the civilian population to get out of harm’s way.”

Sen. John Fetterman, a staunchly pro-Israel Democrat from Pennsylvania, who attended the AIPAC gathering, said he opposed the Biden administration’s pressure on Israel. “Israel has the right to fully engage Hamas to its end,” he wrote on X, the social media platform, formerly known as Twitter. “Until Hamas surrenders, frees the hostages, and ends this humanitarian tragedy, I do not support any conditions.”

Netanyahu also took an indirect swipe at Biden for suggesting in a Saturday interview he is “hurting Israel more than helping Israel” with his prosecution of the war in Gaza, where Palestinian health officials put the death toll above 30,000. 

“You cannot say that you oppose Hamas’s strategy of using civilians as human shields, and then blame Israel for the civilian casualties that are the result of this Hamas strategy,” Netanyahu said. “For Israel, every civilian death is a tragedy. For Hamas, every civilian death is a strategy. So it is wrong, it immoral, to hold Israel to a standard for avoiding civilian casualties that no other country on Earth is held to.”

Israel’s opposition leader, Yair Lapid, defended Biden in his remarks to attendees Monday, urging them to “not defend the government, defend the country.” Lapid accused Netanyahu of picking a fight with Biden “for domestic politics.” 

All four congressional leaders — Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries and Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell — spoke at the conference.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.