NBC News reported today (Sunday) that a number of close associates to US President Joe Biden have warned him that his approval ratings in a number of key states have dropped due to his involvement in the war in Gaza and support for Israel.
According to the report, the advisers' warning was given to Biden during a private meeting held last January. According to insiders, Biden lost support in Michigan and Georgia - two "swing" states where he defeated Donald Trump in particularly close battles in the 2020 elections.
In response, Biden told his associates that he believed he "has done the right thing" in regards to the war, despite his apparent unpopularity and political damage. A spokesman for the White House, Andrew Bates, said in response to the report that "President Biden made decisions based only on the national security needs of the United States, and no other consideration."
The current report was published shortly after Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu harshly attacked Biden at the beginning of today's cabinet meeting, pointing out that: "there are those in the international community who are trying to stop the war now, before all of its goals are achieved."
"They are doing this by making false accusations against the IDF, against the government of Israel, and against its Prime Minister. They are doing this by trying to bring about elections now, in the midst of the war. And they are doing this because they know that elections now will stop the war, and paralyze the country for at least six months."
"So let's be clear: if we stop the war now, before all of its goals are achieved, it means that Israel has lost the war, and we will not allow that," Netanyahu clarified. "That's why we must not give in to these pressures, and we will not give in to them. On the contrary, this simple truth only strengthens our determination to keep fighting the pressures and to keep fighting until the end - until the absolute victory."
"No international pressure will stop us from realizing all the goals of the war: the elimination of Hamas, release of all our hostages, and ensuring that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel."
"And to our friends in the international community, I say: Is your memory so short? You forgot October 7 so quickly?...You lost your moral compass so quickly?"
The Likud Party also issued an official response to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's statement calling for new elections and claiming that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu does not represent the majority of Israelis in his conduct of the war.
In the statement, the Likud party said that "we are not a banana republic, but an independent and proud democracy which elected Prime Minister Netanyahu. Prime Minister Netanyahu is leading a determined policy which is supported by an enormous majority of the people."