It may not be possible to end the Gaza war this year, establish a post-Hamas peace in Gaza and restart a process to give Palestinians the state they deserve. Biden may be the single most popular person in Israel today, and the United States has leverage as Israel’s most important ally and diplomatic protector. Biden’s forceful backing of Israel after the Hamas terror attack won him enormous gratitude from a people not much used to such unequivocal support. To his credit, Biden has tried to nudge Israel in this direction, as has Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The Biden administration has already encouraged Israel to ratchet its assault on Gaza several notches toward the surgical end, by using smaller bombs and allowing humanitarian pauses.

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Persons: Biden, Antony Blinken, They’ve, —, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, Netanyahu, ”, General David Petraeus, Israel, Marwan Barghouti, Palestine’s Mandela Organizations: Israel, United Nations, Gaza Health Ministry, State Department, The United Nations, Israeli Army, Biden, United Nations Security Council, Jewish, West Bank Locations: Israel, Palestine, Gaza, United States, Iran, America, Iraq, Jerusalem