President Biden Calls Israel Must Make Peace With Palestine To Survive

JAKARTA - United States President Joe Biden said on Monday evening, Israel must make peace with Palestine in order to survive, warning its "very conservative government" would harm international support.

President Biden also signaled that a temporary ceasefire in Gaza would soon take place, saying Israel had agreed to stop its attacks during the Holy Month of Ramadan if an agreement was reached, to release several hostages detained by Hamas.

"The only way for Israel to survive is the deal, they must also take advantage of opportunities to create peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians who are used as pawns by Hamas," he said.

The temporary ceasefire gives time to start moving in a direction that many Arab countries are ready to take in terms of normalizing relations with Israel, he said.

"For example, Saudi Arabia is ready to recognize Israel," he said, referring to Riyadh's desire to establish relations with Israel if the country is committed to a real step towards a two-state solution.

"I think if we do a temporary ceasefire, we will be able to move in a direction where we can change the dynamics," he added.

Amid rising tensions with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Biden said if Israel continued to maintain "very conservative governments like they have, with (Presidential Security Minister of Rights Itamar) Ben Gvir and others, they would lose support from around the world."

Previously, President Biden had repeatedly talked about diplomatic difficulties caused by the inclusion of ultranationalist parties into the Israeli government.

In response, PM Netanyahu issued a video in Hebrew late Tuesday, arguing there was broad support in the US for the Israeli government.

"Since the beginning of the war, I have led a diplomatic campaign whose goal is to thwart pressure to end the war before time, and at the same time to gain support for Israel," Prime Minister Netanyahu said.

"We achieved a significant success in this area," he continued, referring to the Harvard Harris poll published Monday, where 82 percent of US citizens support Israel in the fight against Hamas.

"This gave us another source of power to continue the fight against Hamas until a total victory," Prime Minister Netanyahu concluded.

However, both Israel and Hamas on Tuesday underestimated the idea of a breakthrough in the Gaza agreement imminent after President Biden expressed optimism that the agreement could be ready on weekends.

Representatives from Egypt, Qatar, the United States, France, and other countries have acted as intermediaries for Israel and Hamas, seeking to stop fighting and release Israeli hostages detained in Gaza.

"There is a way forward, despite the difficulties," President Biden said when asked about how to end the conflict.

The mediators hope to reach an agreement before the start of the Holy Month of Ramadan which will be datanf in about two weeks.

"Ramadan will arrive soon and there has been an agreement from the Israeli side that they will also not carry out activities during Ramadan, to give us time to get all the hostages out," he said.

It is known that President Biden's comments came after US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday representatives from several parties met in Paris over the weekend and reached an understanding of the temporary "basic contour" of the ceasefire.