THE WHITE HOUSE — U.S. President Joe Biden met with his national security team Monday and spoke with Jordan’s king to defuse heightened tensions in the Middle East after a pair of high-profile assassinations last week.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, warned Israel would exact a “heavy price” if attacked by Iran or its proxies in the region.
The White House said over the weekend that it was committed to a hostage-release and cease-fire deal that had so far been elusive — but emphasized that Washington stood ready to respond and had surged military resources to the region.
“We still believe a cease-fire deal is the best way to bring this war to an end,” John Kirby, White House national security spokesman, said. “It’s also, we believe, very possible. We still believe the gaps are narrow enough to close. The other thing that we’ve been doing since the 7th of October is making sure that not only Israel has what it needs to defend itself, but that this war doesn’t escalate to become something broader.”
Analysts say this is a tense moment.
“I think one of the reasons that this is also scary, to be honest, for everybody, is that it isn’t clear what the United States can do when we’re on the brink like this,” said Natasha Hall, a senior fellow with the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Advocates for the American Muslim community, which has criticized Biden’s staunch support for Israel, say Washington should take a firm line on Israel’s aggression in Gaza.
“The United States possesses a wide array of diplomatic and political tools to hold Israel accountable, whether that’s withholding aid, ammunition, weapons, political support or sanctioning more of Israel’s far-right settlers that have been engaged in violence,” said Robert McCaw, Government Affairs Department director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Netanyahu said Israel is ready to meet challenges.
“Iran and its proxies seek to surround us with a stranglehold of terror on seven fronts,” he said. “Their visible aggression is insatiable, but Israel is not helpless. We are determined to stand against them on every front, in every arena, far and near. Anyone who murders our citizens, anyone who harms our country, will be held accountable. He will pay a very heavy price.”
Jordan Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi recently paid a rare visit to Tehran, and Biden on Monday spoke to Jordan’s King Abdullah II about de-escalating tensions in the region.
Hall says diplomacy may be the best way forward.
“What he [Safadi] wanted to do was play essentially a mediating role in much the same way that Qatar has been doing in recent months,” she said. “Just speak to Iran, try to address their concerns, but also to be essentially a conduit for the United States to ensure that there’s some kind of open channel during these particularly scary times.
“And I think that that is more necessary than ever before, since the United States does not directly speak to high-ranking Iranian officials. And so, they are depending on these kinds of regional mediators, probably more so than ever before,” Hall said.
So, with nearly 40,000 people dead, Gaza in ruins, and Lebanon and Iran on high alert, the world is waiting to see what happens next.
A reporter asked Biden about one of the key players in the conflict as he left church on Sunday.
“Do you think Iran will stand down, sir?” the reporter said.
“I hope so,” Biden replied. “I don’t know.”
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