The rift between the United States and Israel reached a new low on Monday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a planned delegation to Washington, a trip personally requested by President Joe Biden last week in hopes of offering constructive alternatives to Israel's proposed ground offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The decision came after the US abstained from a United Nations Security Council vote calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, allowing the resolution to pass.
The cancellation of the meetings, which were set to discuss options for targeting Hamas militants in Rafah while minimizing civilian casualties, has left the Biden administration perplexed and disappointed. White House officials view Netanyahu's move as an overreaction, likely reflecting his own domestic political concerns, and believe the prime minister is unnecessarily creating a perception of daylight between the US and Israel.
The US had planned to offer the Israeli delegation a suite of alternative options for going after Hamas in Rafah, hoping to forestall what the US believes would amount to a humanitarian catastrophe if Israel launches a full-scale ground invasion. American officials have warned that such a campaign could result in a humanitarian disaster, as there is nowhere for the 1.4 million Palestinian civilians sheltering in Rafah to go, given the extensive destruction caused by Israeli bombardment in other parts of Gaza.
Despite the cancellation of the in-person talks, the US still intends to share these alternatives with Israeli officials, including in discussions between top Biden advisers and Israel's defense minister. However, the public break-off of the meetings has starkly illustrated the increasingly fraught dynamic between the two allies.
President Biden's patience with Netanyahu has been wearing thin, and his ability to influence Israel's decision-making appears to be waning, even as the US continues to provide critical military and diplomatic support. The US has been in regular contact with Israel over the weekend to discuss the UN Security Council resolution, making clear that the American stance hasn't changed - that a ceasefire must be paired with a release of hostages.
Netanyahu's threat to cancel the delegation if the US did not veto the resolution, followed by his decision to follow through on that threat when the US abstained, has led American officials to view the prime minister's statements about a change in US position as peculiar and strange. The White House believes Netanyahu is unnecessarily choosing to create a perception of daylight between the two countries.
As pressure builds on both the US and Israel, Biden's advisers have been weighing various options for how to respond should the Rafah operation proceed. While officials have declined to offer specifics, the president has been under increasing pressure from Democratic lawmakers to begin conditioning military assistance to Israel based on its humanitarian efforts and to take diplomatic steps signaling American disapproval.
Vice President Kamala Harris has declined to rule out consequences for Israel should it move ahead with its Rafah plans, stating, "I am ruling out nothing." The Biden administration has warned Israel that it risks becoming an international pariah if the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens or persists for an extended period.
As the divide between the US and Israel deepens, the cancellation of the Rafah meetings has dealt a blow to Biden's efforts to find a constructive approach to shaping Israel's war plans. With Netanyahu signaling his intent to proceed with the Rafah offensive even without US support, the president may be forced to decide whether to take his frustrations even more public and potentially scale back America's stalwart support for its ally.
CNN and Business Insider contributed to this report.
