There is a growing split in the US Democratic Party over US President Joe Biden’s actions around the conflict in the Middle East. The unwillingness of the US leader to call Israel to a ceasefire is causing discontent among Democrats. This was reported by The Hill newspaper.
According to The Hill, the growing rift within the Democratic Party around Joe Biden’s actions on Israel’s conflict with the Palestinian Hamas movement is becoming a serious political problem for the American president.
The newspaper believes this is also overlaid with Biden’s difficulties in reaching out to young voters and trying to “energise” his own party.
Analysts and Democratic strategists note the growing disillusionment with the American president on the part of liberal-minded fellow party members, especially young Democrats, which could hit the party in 2024, when the US will hold not only presidential elections, but also the next congressional elections.
The publication cites the opinion of experts who believe that if the US elections were held in the next fortnight, the Democrats would have a “really big problem”. A separate argument is made by opinion polls. An NBC News survey found that 70 per cent of voters aged 18 to 34 disapprove of Biden’s handling of the situation in the Middle East.
Biden’s reluctance to call for a ceasefire with Israel is becoming a separate issue that is causing significant tension among progressive Democratic supporters, the newspaper said. In the US House of Representatives, more than 40 Democrats have called for a ceasefire in the Middle East.
In addition, the actions of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who “largely ignores” the US president’s calls for a more cautious use of military force to reduce casualties among the Palestinian population, are also a blow to Biden’s rating. This makes the US leader “risk looking weak”.
“The longer the conflict drags on, the more it threatens to drag the United States into a wider regional conflict, which will force Biden to face a range of other political complications,” the newspaper summarises.
Earlier, Turkish President Recep Erdogan suggested that the conflict in the Middle East will end with the defeat of Israel and the United States, as they, in the words of the Turkish leader, “oppose justice”. At the same time, the justification of attacks is “a legacy of the bloody history of the West”.