Biden Quietly Apologized to Muslims for Doubting Hamas Claim: Report
Amid issuing ringing public condemnations of Hamas, President Joe Biden privately apologized to Muslims for not swallowing Gaza casualty figures issued by a Hamas-run agency, according to a new report.
As The Washington Post noted in its Sunday report, in public on Oct. 25, Biden addressed the ever-soaring casualty numbers from the Gaza Health Ministry by saying, “I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed.”
Then came a private meeting with what the Post said were “five prominent Muslim Americans.”
The newspaper, which said it gathered information from a variety of sources it did not name, said one person present at the meeting said he or she knew of cases such as a woman who lost 100 members of her family.
This led to a transformation on the part of the president, according to the Post.
“I’m sorry. I’m disappointed in myself. I will do better,” Biden said, according to two people at the meeting, which ended with the president giving a hug to one participant.
The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs noted on its website that Gaza casualty numbers are not from an unbiased source.
“And what is the source of these statistics in the press? The Gaza Ministry of Health is a government ministry, or in other words, the Hamas government’s ministry and keeper of the secrets. Every news report from Gaza quotes the Ministry of Health as its authoritative source; too few add that it is a Hamas establishment through and through,” it said.
The Post report said Biden’s personal support for Israel dating back to his days as a senator is being met with a wave of Palestinian support from within the administration that is impacting policy.
What the newspaper termed “a growing number of American diplomats, defense officials and aid workers” support a cease-fire, the report said, adding that ending the Israeli response to the butchering of more than 1,200 people by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7 was supported by “more than 1,000 staffers at the U.S. Agency for International Development. “
Within the administration, the effort to accommodate Palestinian-supporting opinions led an Arab staffer to tell the Post he was “empowered” by the White House’s approach.
Meanwhile, The New York Times reported Tuesday that the Biden administration has created a “secret cell” of top presidential aides to negotiate with Arab nations.
The report said the current pause in fighting linked to the release of hostages comes amid “the widening breach between the White House and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”
The Times said some Biden administration officials want the pause to become a cease-fire that begins talks over a two-state solution to the Middle East.
The report noted the sympathy those in the Biden administration have for Americans with families in Gaza, saying, “Officials said they were keenly aware that the horror for the families of those still in captivity in Gaza will not end until their loved ones are home.”
As the Biden administration seeks an end to the war, Netanyahu said that “at the end of the deal, we are returning full power to carry out our aims: destroy Hamas, ensure that Gaza won’t return to what it was and of course to free all of our hostages,” according to the Times of Israel.
“I am sure that we will succeed in this mission — because we have no other choice,” the prime minister said.
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