While only speaking briefly, the senior Biden aide’s answer indicated his rejection of efforts to scrutinize Israel’s offensive in Gaza more than the attack that provoked it.

US President Joe Biden’s administration did at times break with Israel over the latter’s prosecution of the war in Gaza, speaking out over repeated dips in the amount of humanitarian aid entering the Strip and peaks in the number of civilian casualties.

However, Biden also
1. dispatched aircraft carriers to the Middle East in order to deter Iran and its proxies;
2. sent billions of dollars in military assistance to Israel;
3. helped thwart a pair of Iranian missile attacks;
4. blocked a host of anti-Israel resolutions at the United Nations;
5. and refused to single out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the main obstacle in the hostage talks,
6. insisting that Hamas was the main source of blame amid months of stagnation.