Biden Says People Have ‘Every Reason’ To Believe Netanyahu Prolonging Israel-Hamas War For Political Benefit

President Joe Biden called into doubt Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s motives in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, during a late May interview with Time released on Tuesday.

The Biden administration has spent months urging Netanyahu and the Israeli government to limit its military operations against Hamas in Gaza as Biden’s supporters and voters increasingly call for a ceasefire. With Israel showing no signs of stopping until Hamas is defeated, Biden told Time that people have “every reason” to believe Netanyahu is intentionally prolonging the conflict for his own political self-preservation.

“There is every reason for people to draw that conclusion. And I would cite that as — before the war began, the blowback he was getting from the Israeli military for wanting to change the constitu— change the court,” Biden told Time, referring to a law passed by Netanyahu’s coalition in July 2023 to limit the Israeli Supreme Court’s oversight of government, which was struck down in January. “And so it’s an internal domestic debate that seems to have no consequence. And whether he would change his position or not, it’s hard to say, but it has not been helpful.”

Asked whether he believed that Netanyahu was responsible for the intelligence failures that allowed Hamas to attack Israel on Oct. 7, Biden said that no “one person” was at fault, then segued and said he had a “major disagreement” with Netanyahu on the plan for Gaza after the war ends, shutting down the idea of Israeli forces taking control of the region.

“I don’t know how any one person has that responsibility. He was the leader of the country, so therefore, it happened. But he wasn’t the only one that didn’t pick it up,” Biden told Time. “He wasn’t the only one that didn’t pick it up. That’s why there’s got to be — my major disagreement with Netanyahu is, what happens after, what happens after Gaza’s over?”