Biden: ‘Every reason’ for people to think Netanyahu is prolonging war for political reasons

President Biden in a new interview said it was reasonable for people to conclude that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is prolonging the war in Gaza for his political benefit.

“I’m not going to comment on that,” Biden told Time magazine in an interview conducted May 28 and published Tuesday. “There is every reason for people to draw that conclusion.”

Biden noted that before Israel’s war with Hamas began in October, Netanyahu was facing criticism for pushing judicial reforms that would reduce checks and balances.

“And so it’s an internal domestic debate that seems to have no consequence,” Biden said. “And whether he would change his position or not, it’s hard to say, but it has not been helpful.”

Biden said his major disagreement with Netanyahu over the war is about what would happen when it ends. Biden has supported a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, but Netanyahu has opposed such an idea. While Netanyahu has said Israeli occupation is not the solution, he has not proposed an alternate vision for the “day after” the war.

Israel has faced international criticism for its handling of the war against Hamas, which began last October after the group killed more than 1,100 Israelis. Subsequent Israeli military strikes in Gaza have killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, and those in Gaza have been without adequate access to food, water and medicine.

Netanyahu has faced mounting criticism from the U.S. and other countries over its handling of the war as the humanitarian crisis worsens in Gaza and as civilian deaths mount. Biden has said U.S. support for Israel is “ironclad,” but he has voiced frustration with Netanyahu over his handling of the war, particularly over the deaths of civilians and plans to invade Rafah in southern Gaza.

The president earlier this week laid out a three-phase peace plan that would wind down fighting between Israel and Hamas and allow for the rebuilding of Gaza. Biden argued Hamas has been degraded to the point that it cannot carry out an attack similar to last October. But Netanyahu has said the war should continue until Hamas is completely destroyed.

Biden told Time it was “uncertain” if Israeli forces had committed war crimes in Gaza. He has previously criticized an International Criminal Court (ICC) request for arrest warrants against Netanyahu and his defense minister, and said the U.S. doesn’t recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction over Israel or Gaza.

“But one thing is certain, the people in Gaza, the Palestinians have suffered greatly, for lack of food, water, medicine, etc. And a lot of innocent people have been killed,” Biden told Time. “But it is — and a lot of it has to do not just with Israelis, but what Hamas is doing in Israel as we speak.”

Biden also told Time he does not think Israel is intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, but that the Israelis have “engaged in activity that is inappropriate.”

“When I went over immediately after the — Hamas’s brutal attack, I said then, and it became public, I said, don’t make the same mistake we did going after bin Laden,” Biden said. “Don’t try— the idea of occupying Afghanistan, the idea that you had nuclear arsenals in Iran, that were being, I mean, in Iraq, that were being generated, simply not true. And it led to endless wars. They were not true. Don’t make the mistakes we made. And they’re making that mistake, I think.”