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US calls for UN vote on immediate ceasefire in Gaza – what this shift says about America’s relationship with Israel
By Natasha Lindstaedt, University of Essex
The United States has significantly shifted its position on Gaza by submitting a UN security council resolution calling for an “immediate and sustained ceasefire”, tied to the release of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas.
This is the first time that the US has supported calls for an an immediate ceasefire, and indicates a further chilling of its relationship with Israel. It has previously vetoed three attempts at the UN to vote for a ceasefire.
Although US secretary of state Antony Blinken was in Israel ahead of the vote, which was vetoed by Russia, China and Algeria, the rift between the US and Israeli positions seems to be growing. Speaking during the Blinken visit, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “I hope we will do it with the support of the United States, but if we have to, we will do it alone.”
The US has upped its pressure on Israel in recent weeks, with President Joe Biden outlining plans to send aid to Gaza in his recent State of the Union annual address.
He said in the speech that Israel “had a fundamental responsibility to protect innocent victims in Gaza” and reiterated his call for six-week long ceasefire. He also announced that the US would be building a temporary pier in Gaza to receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters.
The US has historically been one of Israel’s closest allies, something that has been put to the test with Israel’s conflict in Gaza. As a humanitarian crisis has unfolded, Biden, under increasing pressure from various voting blocs in the US has made important rhetorical shifts in his language about Israel and the war in Gaza.
Only 20% of US voters under 30 approve of Biden’s handling of the conflict based on polling from December. Support for Biden from Arab-Americans fell to just 17% based on polling taken at the start of the conflict, a 42% drop.
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