Under the title: Joe Biden, besieged by his support for Israel, is trying to find a way out of the war in Gaza. The French newspaper Le Monde said that the speech delivered by US President Joe Biden this Friday on the issue of Gaza, in which he presented the new Israeli proposal in three stages for a ceasefire, is “dangerous and unexpected.” It represents a shift in the US administration’s position on this crisis. It also shows impatience, even a kind of excitement, that the war Israel has been waging for eight months has become a trap for the White House.

Le Monde considered that the “new road map for a permanent ceasefire” in Gaza, which Washington announced, as if it were a matter of pressuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is a three-stage plan that was negotiated for several months. They are “almost identical to the proposals Hamas put forward just a few weeks ago,” a senior American official noted, expressing hope that the Palestinian movement would accept them.

After obstructing several resolutions in the United Nations Security Council, Washington ended up supporting the call for an immediate ceasefire, by abstaining from voting on March 25 on a UN resolution. However, Washington denounced the request by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants against Israeli leaders, and regretted the recognition of Palestine by several European countries (Spain, Ireland, Norway). At the beginning of May, the White House confirmed that it had frozen the delivery of 3,500 bombs to Israel. But in reality, the Pentagon airlift continues to supply the Jewish state with equipment and weapons. Congress even voted in favor of an additional military aid package worth $14 billion, Le Monde notes.

Le Monde continued to say that the Biden administration finds itself in a “strategic impasse.” Criticizing Israeli operations exposes Joe Biden to Republican accusations of abandoning them, but continuing to blindly support Israel isolates it from the support of a portion of American youth, on the left, as evidenced by the protests at major universities.

Aside from this internal dimension, this unconditional support for Israel constitutes a devastating blow to the credibility of the United States in the world. What is the point of invoking international law and basic humanitarian values with regard to Ukraine? What is the point of defending the idea of an indispensable American nation at the head of liberal democracies if it is to show itself either helpless or deaf in the face of the Gazan drama? Le Monde asks.

The Biden administration adheres to two goals - Le Monde explains - the first was real success for it. Through the widespread and rapid deployment of forces by the Pentagon, it was able to avoid spillover of the conflict into the Middle East. There were two decisive episodes: during the launch of the Israeli military operation in Gaza in October 2023, and then during the missile and drone attack launched by Iran against the Hebrew state on April 13. The second goal is a temporary ceasefire for six weeks in Gaza.