Right-wing Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir (agencies)
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir accused US President Joe Biden of aligning with Israel's enemies, and described his efforts to pressure Tel Aviv as wrong.
Ben Gvir said during an interview with the American newspaper "The New York Times" that Biden prefers the approach of the US Congresswoman of Palestinian origin, Rashida Tlaib, and the head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Yahya Sinwar, over his and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's approach.
The Israeli Minister of National Security explained to the newspaper that he expected "the President of the United States not to follow their line, but to follow our line."
He considered that Biden was very wrong by seeking to put pressure on Israel, and said that the American president "continuously sought to impose restrictions on Israel, and to talk about the rights of the other party, including many terrorists who want to destroy Israel," as he put it.
Ben Gvir's criticism of the US President comes less than two days after the UN Security Council adopted for the first time a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The United States did not use its veto power to obstruct it and abstained from voting.
The resolution - presented by non-permanent members of the Security Council - calls for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, stressing the urgent need to increase aid and demanding the removal of all obstacles to its delivery.
Washington's decision not to obstruct the Security Council resolution, as it did in previous resolutions regarding stopping the war in Gaza, angered Tel Aviv, as Netanyahu responded by canceling the visit of an Israeli delegation to Washington in protest of the latter's abstention from the vote.
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office said that Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a delegation's visit to Washington after it abstained from voting on the resolution adopted by the UN Security Council.
The United States - which provides Israel with the strongest military, intelligence and diplomatic support since the beginning of the war - has recently issued increasing warnings to Israel regarding the invasion of the city of Rafah, which is the last refuge for hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians.
US Vice President Kamala Harris recently said, "I do not rule out that there will be American consequences for Israel if it proceeds with the invasion of Rafah."
She added that America "made clear to Israel in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be wrong," noting that it "studied the maps and found that there is no place for 1.5 million people to go."
Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip for more than 5 months, leaving tens of thousands martyred and wounded, most of them children and women, amid warnings from international organizations of famine - especially in the northern Gaza Strip - as a result of the occupation restricting the entry of aid.
Source: Al Jazeera + websites