Abed Khaled/AP Photo
A view of buildings destroyed by the ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, October 28, 2023
Depending on where you start the clock, the Arab-Israeli conflict has been argued over for either 76 or 1,400 years, and I’d put the last month as a low point in moving toward a resolution. I don’t like writing about things that are intractable, combined with the fact that this conflict brings out the worst in everyone, as impossible situations often do.
But silence is hardly a legitimate response in the face of the “second stage” of the war in Gaza, with Israel moving infantry and tanks toward Gaza City amid stepped-up aerial bombardment. The death toll has hit over 8,300 according to the Gaza Ministry of Health (which has been accurate and aligned with U.N. figures in past conflicts). While Israel’s stated intent is to eliminate terrorist activity in Gaza, there have been reports of tanks firing on taxicabs waving white flags, with an IDF spokesperson justifying it by saying, “Terrorists use civilian infrastructure like cars.”
For anyone with a universal sense of shared humanity, the tragedies to come simply loom larger than the tragedies in the rearview mirror, because they are the only ones that can be stopped. The horrors of October 7 were unspeakable; accountability for that loss cannot come in the form of recreating it.
Politics often subsumes these impulses in favor of realpolitik. But I tend to sense when Democratic policymakers are getting more uncomfortable with what their leadership is facilitating, or at least failing to prevent.
I’m not talking about the lonely few who have urged a cease-fire for weeks. I’m referring to people like Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), who has been groomed to lead Democrats on foreign-policy issues. When he starts arguing against a full-scale ground invasion, on the reasonable grounds that it will create a power vacuum in Gaza, recapitulate the failed U.S. counterinsurgency missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and recruit more militants overall, we should take notice.
Patrick Gaspard, the head of the Center for American Progress, is squarely in the center of Democratic thought. When he says, correctly, that “there is nothing complicated about being able to say killing innocent people is wrong and needs to stop,” we should take notice.
The White House does appear to be taking notice. When internet and phone service to Gaza was cut off over the weekend, U.S. pressure reportedly got it turned back on. The U.S. has also been critical to accelerating the delivery of humanitarian aid trucks. President Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the weekend that the offensive must “prioritize the protection of civilians.” Previously, the U.S. counseled Israel to conduct a “surgical” operation that would minimize civilian casualties. National security adviser Jake Sullivan has made oblique reference to “conversations” aimed at restraint.
But all of that falls short of a cease-fire, with international outcry (from Pope Francis on down) raging. My former colleague Jonathan Guyer made the case this weekend that the world increasingly views this as Biden’s war, citing the billions in annual aid, veto of a U.N. resolution for a humanitarian pause, and rhetorical assistance, rooted in Biden’s half-century of deep support for Israel.
As Franklin Foer recounts in his presidential history The Last Politician, which I reviewed for this magazine, a 2021 flare-up in Gaza that included an airstrike on an Associated Press building ended when Biden told Netanyahu, “We’re out of runway here. It’s over.” And an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire was put into place. So there’s little question that the U.S. has the ability to impact events, even in tumultuous times like this.
The political implications of Biden’s Israel bear hug may be damaging, but common humanity, not gamed-out impacts on base voters in swing states, can suffice as a reason to endorse an end to the destruction of innocent lives. It is not only unsustainable—especially as the U.S. attempts to condemn the same violations of international law when carried out by Russia on Ukraine—it’s counterproductive to Israel’s security. And eventually, the time will come when the U.S. must say enough to the killing. Every second lost from that moment is a calamity.
