President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are at odds over Gaza’s red lines, which could lead to a showdown between the two leaders. It is also unclear whether the US will cut off military funding if Israel launches a ground attack in the enclave’s southern region, Reuters reported.
Ever since President Harry Truman became the first international leader to recognize the newly founded state of Israel in 1948, the United States has been a steadfast supporter of the country.
Over the years, however, cracks have appeared in the often strong ties. Here are some milestones:
1948
The first international leader to recognize the newly established state of Israel is President Harry Truman.
1956
The administration of President Dwight Eisenhower, enraged by Israel’s efforts with France and Britain to control the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, has demanded an unconditional Israeli withdrawal and is threatening to cut off vital US financial aid to the country if it does not.
1967
In the battle with neighboring Arab states, the US supports Israel. However, Israel’s attack on the US spy ship Liberty in international seas strained ties. 174 were wounded and 34 American soldiers died.
1973
President Richard Nixon began airlifts of military equipment to Israel in response to the 1973 war in Egypt and Syria, both of which had lost ground in the 1967 battle.
1975
US President Gerald Ford’s administration has threatened to reassess US relations with Israel unless it signs a “disengagement” agreement with Egypt to withdraw from the 1967-conquered Sinai Peninsula.
1979
After the Camp David discussions, President Jimmy Carter hosts the signing of a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel.
1981
The US condemns the Israeli attack on the nuclear power plant in Osirak, Iraq.
1982
During the conflict in Lebanon, President Ronald Reagan contacted Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and expressed his “outrage” at Israeli airstrikes in Beirut. He then pressures Begin to call for a ceasefire.
1990
Secretary of State James Baker reads out the White House phone number and asks both sides “to call us if you’re serious about peace,” suggesting the US is growing impatient with Israel’s protracted delays in peace talks with the Palestinians.
1991
President George W. Bush Sr. pressured Israel to avoid the First Gulf War, fearing that an Israeli strike on Iraq would lead to the dissolution of the United States-led coalition.
Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir faces mounting pressure to attend a peace summit in Madrid after Washington refused to provide $10 billion in financial guarantees that Israel had requested to absorb the influx of Soviet Jews.
Bush has argued that a delay is in the best interest of the peace process and says he will not provide guarantees until Israel stops building settlements.
1992
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin granted a limited moratorium on settlement construction, and Bush granted Israel’s request for loan guarantees.
1993
Yasser Arafat and Rabin hold hands as President Bill Clinton presides over the signing of the Declaration of Principles on the Interim Palestinian Authority.
1998
Clinton hosts a conference between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yasser Arafat in Wye River, Maryland. Netanyahu agrees to allow Palestinians to regain power over seized land.
2003
Three years after the Palestinian uprising began, President George W. Bush unveiled a peace “road map” proposal that sets out a framework for ending the bloodshed and resuming statehood negotiations.
2004
Bush informed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that it was “unrealistic” to expect Israel to return to the 1949 armistice lines due to “existing large Israeli population centers”, an indirect reference to Jewish settlement enclaves in the West Bank.
2009
Bush informs the Israeli parliament that the US and Israel have an unshakable bond rooted in a mutual connection with the Bible that transcends any treaty.
2010
President Barack Obama’s administration is furious with Israel after it announced during Vice President Joe Biden’s visit that more settlement homes would be built around Jerusalem. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the action “insulting”.
2011
Days after Obama boldly declared that “the borders between Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines,” Netanyahu lectured Obama in the Oval Office of the White House.
2015
Obama says the world community doesn’t think Israel is sincere in its desire for a two-state solution.
2016
During the final weeks of his presidency, Obama overrode the US veto and therefore allowed the passage of a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement expansion. It is against the US policy of protecting Israel in the UN.
2017
Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, reversing decades of US policy. In 2018, a new American embassy was opened.
2019
The Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria during the 1967 war, are recognized by the Trump administration as Israeli territory. The only nation that does this is the US.
2023
On October 7, US President Joe Biden warned “any party hostile to Israel” against seeking benefits and promised Israel “all appropriate means of support” in response to the October 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas.
Biden warns Israel that it will lose international support because of the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians in the war against Hamas.
2024
February 8: Biden says he wants a “permanent pause in the fighting.”
February 11: Biden informed Netanyahu that Israel should not invade Rafah without a solid strategy to protect the approximately one million civilians sheltering there.
February 27: Netanyahu says he has consistently resisted pressure to end the war early, a position that has popular US support.
March 9: After declaring that the upcoming Israeli assault on Rafah would be his “red line” for Netanyahu, Biden later retracts his statement, stating, “I will never leave Israel,” and there is no red line. in a manner “contrary to what Israel stands for,” Biden claims “does more harm than good to Israel” in terms of civilian deaths.
March 12: Netanyahu declared that Israel would continue its military assault on Rafah.
