Former US Officials Reveal Biden Administration Missteps in Gaza Conflict and Frustration with Netanyahu

Ahead of former President Joe Biden's memoir release, a New Yorker investigation exposes candid admissions from senior former Biden administration officials about their mishandling of the Gaza war crisis. Key figures including Jake Sullivan, Antony Blinken, Lloyd Austin, John Feiner, and Philip Gordon acknowledge that the US failed to exert sufficient pressure on Israel and was misled by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Sullivan admitted, "We should have applied much heavier pressure on Israel to adopt a different approach." The White House twice considered a decisive break with Israel and delaying arms shipments before operations in Rafah and another event in July 2024 but retreated fearing jeopardizing hostage deals and ceasefires.

Biden was deeply involved and repeatedly rejected conditioning arms deliveries, reportedly reprimanding Blinken and Sullivan "like children." A senior official noted Biden wanted to continue supporting Israel unless told "you can’t," but his team avoided setting that red line. Netanyahu and Minister Ron Dermer repeatedly promised the fighting would end within "two weeks," a claim Blinken challenged, only to be mocked by Dermer. Officials expressed shock at the scale of destruction in Gaza and Rafah and revealed Blinken avoided signing a document to halt aid to units accused of prisoner abuse to preserve hostage negotiations.

Austin likened Netanyahu to a gambler risking the "house’s money," knowing the US would cover the cost. The administration admits it deceived itself by relying on legal loopholes to overlook violations of war laws. Intelligence and State Department sources concluded Israel likely used US weapons unlawfully and weaponized humanitarian aid blockades, but legal reports were crafted ambiguously to maintain ammunition flow. A White House official angrily said, "Bibi played games with all of us." Biden was also embarrassed and blamed for Netanyahu ordering a targeted killing in Dahieh without warning, days after the US publicly called for a three-week ceasefire.

In March 2024, Red Cross President Mirjana Spoljaric sent a confidential letter to Biden warning that Israel’s denial of detainee visits equated it with North Korea and Eritrea and pleaded to halt arms shipments over war crime concerns. The administration admits drafting convoluted legal reports to bypass findings of illegal US weapon use to avoid stopping aid. Lebanon-Israel mediator Amos Hochstein said Netanyahu sought to appeal to his voters rather than reach US understandings. Biden planned a direct address to the Israeli public over Netanyahu’s head, but Netanyahu and Dermer blocked it by feigning hostage deal progress. Netanyahu later scuttled the deal with new demands and targeted assassinations of figures like Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Deif.