Blinken says he had to threaten that Biden would not come to Israel after Oct. 7 in order to persuade Netanyahu gov’t to let aid into Gaza

President Joe Biden is greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, in Tel Aviv. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Joe Biden is greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, in Tel Aviv. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reveals that in the first days after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, assault on Israel, he had to threaten that President Joe Biden would not visit Israel as planned unless the Netanyahu government allowed aid into Gaza.

Speaking to The New York Times in a wide-ranging interview at the end of his tenure, Blinken talks about the initial siege imposed by Israel on Gaza in the wake of the Hamas massacre in southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people and saw another 251 taken hostage.

Blinken details how during his trip to Israel five days after the attack, he met with Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, “arguing for hours on end about the basic proposition that the humanitarian assistance needed to get to Palestinians in Gaza.”

“And that was an argument that took place because you had in Israel in the days after Oct. 7 a totally traumatized society. This wasn’t just the prime minister or a given leader in Israel. This was an entire society that didn’t want any assistance getting to a single Palestinian in Gaza. I argued that for nine hours,” he says.

Ultimately, he says, he had to threaten that Biden would not come to Israel if aid did not start going in.

“I told the prime minister, I’m going to call the president and tell him not to come if you don’t allow this assistance to start flowing. And I called the president to make sure that he agreed with that, and he fully did. We got the agreement to begin assistance through Rafah, which we expanded to Kerem Shalom and many other places,” he says.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu make statements to the media inside The Kirya, which houses the Israeli Ministry of Defense, after their meeting in Tel Aviv, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, pool)

In the interview, Blinken reiterates that the US does not believe that Israel is carrying out genocide in Gaza, although he says that there were times when Israel was not “doing enough” to allow in humanitarian assistance.

Blinken also denies that Netanyahu was responsible for a cease-fire hostage deal falling apart in July and says that ultimately it has been Hamas that foiled an agreement.

“What we’ve seen time and again is Hamas not concluding a deal that it should have concluded,” Blinken says.

He also expresses deep dismay that most global pressure to end the conflict has been on Israel, not Hamas.

“One of the things that I found a little astounding throughout is that for all of the understandable criticism of the way Israel has conducted itself in Gaza, you hear virtually nothing from anyone since Oct. 7 about Hamas,” Blinken says.

Relatives and supporters of Israelis held hostage in Gaza since October 7 call for their release outside US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s hotel in Tel Aviv on March 22, 2024 (JACK GUEZ / AFP)

“Why there hasn’t been a unanimous chorus around the world for Hamas to put down its weapons, to give up the hostages, to surrender — I don’t know what the answer is to that. Israel, on various occasions has offered safe passage to Hamas’s leadership and fighters out of Gaza. Where is the world? Where is the world, saying, Yeah, do that! End this! Stop the suffering of people that you brought on!”

Most Popular