Biden told confidants that he did not believe his Israeli counterpart wanted a cease-fire deal, arguing that Netanyahu was trying to perpetuate the conflict to save his political future and assist Trump in November’s election, the officials said.Biden deemed Israel’s response “over the top” and did stop one shipment of American arms to Israel.
But even as pressure grew from fellow Democrats to create distance from Netanyahu, Biden’s reflexive instinct was to support Israel despite the swelling humanitarian crisis. As his influence over Netanyahu shrunk, the president’s anger grew.
Phone calls between the two men were increasingly turned into shouting matches, according to one of the officials and one other senior official not authorized to discuss private conversations.
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