On this edition of Your Call's Media Roundtable, we discuss a new HuffPost investigation revealing that President Biden reviewed intelligence showing Israeli officials knew their actions in Gaza could violate US and international law— but he rejected suggestions from advisers to reduce US involvement in the war.
Akbar Shahid Ahmed writes, "Brett McGurk, Biden’s hawkish Middle East adviser, was heavily involved in arguing against any change in US policy in response to the intelligence, two of the officials told HuffPost. Government lawyers eventually said U.S. support for Israel could continue because the U.S. had not gathered its own intelligence about Israeli violations of international law, Reuters reported.
Also around this time, Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised the prospect that Israel was committing ethnic cleansing to fellow U.S. officials, a fourth official, formerly at the State Department, told HuffPost — hinting at a major crime under international law. Such language would have been a significant change in how Blinken discussed Israel, several officials said. In public, Israel and the Biden administration regularly disputed outside groups’ conclusions that Israeli activities amounted to ethnic cleansing or war crimes, and pointed to brutality by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
As the Biden administration fades from memory, former officials have sought recognition and plum new positions. Blinken has joined the board of the Center for American Progress think tank; Sullivan and McGurk have positions at Harvard University and, respectively, a podcast with Vox Media and a commentator position at CNN."
Guest:
Akbar Shahid Ahmed, senior diplomatic correspondent for HuffPost, and author of the forthcoming book, Crossing the Red Line
Resources:
HuffPost: Biden Discussed Potential Israeli War Crimes In Gaza. He Kicked The Can To Trump.
Reuters: US intel revealed Israeli officials discussing use of human shields in Gaza, sources say
+972: The genocide through their eyes: An illustrated timeline
