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Netanyahu fires back at Biden over arms threat

May 09, 2024

Alex Kliment

FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich during the weekly cabinet meeting at the Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv, Israel, January 7, 2024.

REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool/File Photo

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahusaid Thursday his country would “stand alone” and fight “with its fingernails” if Joe Biden followed through on a threat to cut certain arms shipments to the Jewish state.

A day earlier, Biden said he’d stop sending certain kinds of shells, bombs, and other offensive weapons to Israel if Netanyahu proceeded with an invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians, many displaced from elsewhere in Gaza, are currently sheltering as famine spreads across the strip.

No fingernails needed just yet. Biden’s decision is “a headline-grabbing move that has some eventual impact on Israeli capabilities,” says Clayton Allen, US analyst at Eurasia Group, “but which doesn’t hit at the bulk of US assistance or really diminish what they can do in the coming weeks.” State Department spokesman John Kirby said Thursday the US believes that “smashing into Rafah” isn’t the best way to defeat Hamas and has presented Netanyahu with other options.

What will Netanyahu do? Certain members of his Cabinet are pressuring him to flout Biden’s red line entirely. His ultranationalist security minister tweeted “Hamas ❤️Biden.” But is Netanyahu really willing to risk a deeper split with Israel’s superpower backer?

Biden is also in a tricky spot. “He doesn’t want to follow through on this,” says Allen. “He’s getting hammered by the GOP, most US voters support Israel, and long-term US-Israeli alignment is a key part of US strategy.”

GZEROMEDIA

Can the IMF change to help more women?

Matthew Kendrick

When a country hits rock bottom financially, the International Monetary Fund is meant to step in with funds to stabilize the economy without damaging its society — or the gender gap. But studies show that these programs often push women out of work at a disproportionate rate to men as the economy contracts. Matthew Kendrick reports from the World Bank-IMF Annual Meetings on a push to build more equitable programs.

North Korean troops move into Russia’s border area with Ukraine

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un attend a farewell ceremony before Putin's departure at an airport in Pyongyang, North Korea June 19, 2024.

Gavriil Grigorov/Reuters

Kyiv says that roughly 12,000 North Korean troops are in Russia, a far greater number than reported by the US, though it remains unclear precisely how many have entered what Ukraine referred to as the “combat zone.”

GZEROMEDIA

Will Japan’s LDP lose its grip on power?

October 23, 2024, Kamagaya, Japan - Japanese Prime Minister and leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Shigeru Ishiba reacts to his supporters after he delivered a campaign speech for his party candidate Hisashi Matsumoto for the general election at Kamagaya in Chiba prefecture, suburban Tokyo on Wednesday, October 23, 2024.

(photo by Yoshio Tsunoda/AFLO)

As Japan heads to the polls this Sunday, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s decision to call an early election just weeks after taking office is turning out to be a high-stakes gamble.

Global economy at risk if Middle East conflict expands, says World Bank's Ayhan Kose

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While the global economy shows signs of growth and decreasing inflation, the near future involves risks, including the escalation in the Middle East impacting oil prices, strained China-US relations, and an increasingly challenging tariff and trade environment, said Ayhan Kose, World Bank Deputy Chief Economist. He discussed the geopolitical tensions influencing the global economy with GZERO's Tony Maciulis at the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington, DC, in a GZERO Global Stage interview.

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Netanyahu fires back at Biden over arms threat

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This week World Bank announced a bold initiative to bridge the gender divide by creating more economic opportunity, broadening female leadership, and reducing gender-based violence in the next 5 years as 2030 approaches.

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