Biden says to Bibi: Cry "Uncle Joe"

UN ceasefire resolution is a signal, not a sanction, for Israel

The United Nations Security Council is a forum for grandstanding and virtue-signaling, where yesterday’s powers wield their vetoes abusively, as hypocrisy and cynicism rule. 

Sometimes the essence remains unsaid, and so it was on Monday, as the United States allowed the passage of a resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, prompting Israel to call off talks in Washington between top defense and intelligence officials of the two allies.

The resolution, No. 2728, came after five previous ceasefire proposals failed, three by U.S. veto and two sponsored by the U.S. and vetoed by China and Russia. It upset Israel by not condemning Hamas, or specifically saying the terror group cannot remain in power in Gaza. That is something Israel will not abide — and the U.S. actually does not want.  It’s important to note that this resolution is not a sanction — it does not carry any consequence to Israel for not abiding the ceasefire — but a signal.

It is a signal that President Joe Biden has had it with the ingratitude and disrespect shown to him by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and needs Israel to shift course before he can support any additional major war actions. That includes the one that most observers expect and many agree is essential: the uprooting of Hamas from its last redoubt in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

The two leaders are locked in a clash that derives as much from their own internal politics as from ideological or policy differences.