Joe Biden sat down with Lawrence O’Donnell of MSNBC on Thursday and had his last one-on-one in the capacity of the President of the United States. With this interview, the curtain closes on his political career that has spanned over 5 decades. The interview covered a range of topics and also touched on an aspect that has long been a thorn in Biden’s career, the Israel-Palestine war.
This conflict has been the biggest challenge that Joe Biden has faced in his presidency and many believe that this was also the reason why he failed to win his way back to The White House.
HAPPENING NOW: President Biden sits down with @Lawrence O’Donnell in the final exclusive Oval Office interview of his presidency.
Watch @TheLastWord on @MSNBC. pic.twitter.com/J14w5b1UfF
— MSNBC Public Relations (@MSNBCPR) January 17, 2025
On the topic of the Israel-Palestine conflict, Joe Biden opened up and told MSNBC that he had a conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu in which he emphasized that Israel cannot carpet bomb an independent state wholly.
Joe Biden insisted that he repeatedly told the Prime Minister that Israel needs to find a way to accommodate Palestine and its people and their concerns. “And the idea that Israel is going to be able to sustain itself for the long term without accommodating the Palestinian question … It’s not going to happen,” said the outbound President.
However, Joe Biden’s sentiments do not align with his actions as the US has continuously provided military and diplomatic support to Israel and stood by the nation as it killed thousands of Palestinians.
BREAKING: “We will continue to have Israel’s back as you work to defend your people.” Pres. Biden in Israel with Israeli PM Netanyahu also said they were working with partners across the region to prevent more tragedy for civilians. pic.twitter.com/vdc1GBBnyQ
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) October 18, 2023
While Israel has continuously denied these allegations, Joe Biden has faced criticism from various human rights activists. Despite several attempts at ceasefires, Biden’s stand on peace between the two states has been more-or-less a failure.
Another round of talks to confirm the ceasefire was finally started, and a deal was reached on Thursday; however, more than 100 people were killed after the ceasefire was declared.
Israel and Palestine have been engaged in bloodshed for decades, with Israel holding immense power over Palestine and its people. During Trump‘s presidency, he formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This encouraged Israel and cemented US support for the nation and its action towards the displaced people of Palestine.
However, the latest conflict was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked civilians in Israel, capturing 250 hostages and killing over 1200 people, as per Israeli media.
In retaliation to this attack, Israel has killed over 46,000 people so far, many of them children. Schools, hospitals, and refugee camps were repeatedly bombed, disregarding UN intervention.
There has been continuous criticism of Israel and its action in the killing of Palestinians amid Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s open declaration of his intentions to capture the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, essentially denying sovereignty to the free state of Palestine.
The International Court of Justice has declared this occupation of Palestinian land as illegal and unlawful.
Israel is committing the crime of genocide, South Africa said at the first day of the hearing at the International Court of Justice. pic.twitter.com/M9Zzwbzfmy
— AJ+ (@ajplus) January 11, 2024
The Israeli attack has been recognized as Genocide by South Africa and Ireland. In Dec 2023, the African nation proceeded with a case of genocide against Israel in the International Court of Justice. Soon after, Ireland joined South Africa against Israel in the genocidal case.
