Once again Joe Biden is on the wrong side of history. His continued support for Benjamin Netanyahu is one of the imponderables of modern times.
Yes, the United States is a defender of Israel’s right to exist, and to exist in peace. Their ties are close, almost familial, and the two countries are virtually joined at the hip.
But that is no excuse for turning a blind eye to the wanton destruction of Gaza and the murder of tens of thousands of innocent people.
Indeed, it could be convincingly argued that the United States is failing Israel and its people by giving carte blanche to Netanyahu – a man who seems determined to destroy any hope of stability in the region.
Worse, Netanyahu’s actions have set the scene for a conflict that threatens world peace. His goading of Iran, in particular, adds fuel to the fire.
Let us be clear about Netanyahu. His primary strategic aim is to save his own skin.
On a personal front he is facing serious allegations of fraud, bribery and breach of trust.
Politically, he has used the principle of divide and conquer to ensure his brand of right-wing politics dominates.
Militarily, he has failed to protect Israel and its people. The Hamas assault which triggered the current round of bloodletting was the result of a massive failure of intelligence on Netanyahu’s watch.
The Israeli government’s response to the Hamas attack was disproportionate – and designed to protect its prime minister from being called to account for his failures in office.
The sickening assault on Palestinians has seen tens of thousands dead. Conservative figures indicate that more than 11,000 children have died at the hands of the Israeli military over the past year – 180 busloads full of children from an area a third the size of Armagh.
According to Oxfam: “More women and children have been killed in Gaza by the Israeli military over the past year than the equivalent period of any other conflict over the past two decades.”
It’s worth meditating for a moment on that phrase “any other conflict”.
It is also worth noting that the figures do not include “nearly 20,000 people who are either unidentified, missing or entombed beneath rubble”.
The Lancet – not a magazine known for wild exaggeration – published a study earlier this year which estimated more than 186,000 people had died in Gaza when ‘indirect deaths’ – including lack of medical care and starvation – are taken into account.
The figure is not surprising given the deliberate targeting of homes, temporary shelters, hospitals and schools. On average, according to Oxfam, aid distribution points and warehouses were bombed every 15 days – frustrating efforts to bring humanitarian aid to people desperately in need of it.
So when Biden used the word “outrageous” last week, he might well have been describing this appalling toll.
But he wasn’t. What got under the president’s skin was not the slaughter, but the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, alongside his former defence minister Yoav Gallant and the Hamas commander Mohammed Deif (believed to have been killed in July).
The court believes there are “reasonable grounds” to suspect that the three men bear criminal responsibility for crimes committed in the current conflict.
Ignoring the warrant for Deif, Netanyahu accused the court of anti-semitism, and compared himself to a “modern Dreyfus”. That is a gross insult to Dreyfuss.
Biden said: “Whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”
But Biden knows that the Israeli actions have gone far beyond defence and security.
Netanyahu has taken his country’s vulnerability and used it as an offensive weapon against innocent Palestinians who have a right to peace and security in their land and the land of their ancestors. He has also abused the support of the west in pursuit of his own narrow ends.
And Biden can’t face up to that, even in the dying days of his presidency.
History will not be kind to him. And we know that when Trump takes the reins of power in Washington, American policy will swerve even further towards support for Netanyahu and his wanton war.
Regardless of who is in the White House, however, Netanyahu has been found sorely wanting in the eyes of a jury of ordinary men and women from across the world.
His crimes are there for all to see. He must be made accountable for them.
The only fit place for the Israeli prime minister is a dock in the Hague.