Meron Rapoport interviews Daniel Levy:

In the wake of Hamas’ October 7 massacres, U.S. President Joe Biden traveled to Israel for a solidarity visit. But a few days before he arrived, as the war effort intensified, he issued a blunt warning: “I made it clear to the Israelis I think it’s a big mistake for them to think they’re going to occupy Gaza and maintain Gaza,” he told reporters.

Since then, Biden has reiterated that Israel must prevent a humanitarian crisis and avoid harming civilians, urging its leaders not to repeat the errors that the United States made in Iraq and Afghanistan. If Israel invaded the southern city of Rafah, Biden threatened back in March, Washington would stop providing offensive weapons.

Israel ignored all these warnings: it occupied Gaza, invaded Rafah, wreaked unfathomable devastation, and sabotaged every ceasefire agreement by insisting that its forces remain in the Strip. And rather than impose any consequences, the United States has twice deployed its own military to the region in order to “clean up” after its ally carried out high-level assassinations in Damascus, Beirut, and Tehran.

Is the United States unable or simply unwilling to impose its demands on Israel? Does this war prove that Israel is a burden rather than a strategic asset, as many in Washington have long argued? And given the growing opposition within Democratic Party to unconditional support for Israel, and resentment among Democratic voters in the leadup to the November elections, why hasn’t the Biden administration changed course?

The answer to these questions is very simple, says Daniel Levy, the president of the U.S./Middle East Project: Washington is not stopping Israel, because this is its own war, too.

A former advisor to the Israeli negotiation team during the Oslo peace process, and now widely known as a sharp critic of Israel, Levy spoke with +972 and Local Call about the need to temper expectations around the shifts occurring in American politics and society vis-a-vis Israel. Instead of waiting for Washington to change its policies, he stressed, both Palestinians and the Israeli left need to recognize the different geopolitical realities around them, and abandon the fantasy that America can solve their problems.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. [Continue reading…]