‘I love you, but don’t agree with you,' said Biden to Netanyahu years ago

Over the weekend, US President Joe Biden shared a decades-old photo he took with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a group of Democratic donors. Biden’s this gesture seemed like he was using the moment to highlight his longstanding support for Israel and his history of having frequent and direct conversations with the Israeli leader.

Biden said he had written on a photo of himself as a young senator with Netanyahu as an embassy hand, “Bibi, I love you. I don’t agree with a damn thing you say.’” He told donors at a Friday night fundraiser that Netanyahu still keeps the photo on his desk and had brought it up during Biden’s last week’s visit to Tel Aviv, according to the AP.

Biden is currently facing a challenge in balancing the act of demonstrating full-throated support for America's closest Middle East ally while also trying to press the Israelis to act with enough restraint to prevent the war from spreading into a wider conflagration as expectations grow that Israel will soon launch a ground offensive attack aimed at rooting out Hamas militants who rule the Gaza Strip and attacked Israel with a surprise attack on October 7, killing over 1,300 people and they also captured around 200 others.

Biden has repeatedly promised to have Israel’s back as it aims to take out the militant group that controls the Gaza Strip. However, Biden is also becoming more aware of the Palestinian situation and the possible repercussions of an extreme Israeli response in public.

According to White House officials, Biden posed "tough" questions to Netanyahu regarding his plan of action and the way forward during his visit to Tel Aviv last week. On his way back from Israel, Biden told reporters that he had a “long talk” with Israeli officials “about what the alternatives are” to a possible extended ground operation. US defence officials also met with Israel to discuss the matter, reported AP.

“We’re going to make sure other hostile actors in the region know that Israel is stronger than ever and prevent this conflict from spreading,” Biden said Thursday in a nationally televised address on assisting Israel and Ukraine in their wars. “At the same time ... Netanyahu and I discussed again yesterday the critical need for Israel to operate by the laws of war. That means protecting civilians in combat as best as they can,” he added.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, Cindy McCain, the executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken both issued urgent warnings that the situation on the ground is only getting worse.