U.S. calls for ‘proportionate’ Israeli response while not openly setting red lines

Biden administration officials want Israel to retaliate against the vicious Hamas attack in a “proportionate” manner, but they won’t say if there are any lines Jerusalem shouldn’t cross.

Israel is responding to the worst attack it has faced in 50 years by pummeling Gaza with airstrikes and besieging the coastal strip, killing nearly 800 in the enclave home to 2.3 million people. As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized, Israel is at war and embarking on a campaign to significantly weaken the threat posed by Hamas.

To put what happened in perspective, the U.S. Holocaust Museum posted on X on Monday that “We just witnessed the deadliest single day for Jews since the Holocaust.” As of Tuesday morning, the Israeli military said more than 1,000 Israelis have been killed.

President Joe Biden and his team repeat that Israel has every right to respond to the violence. But it was unclear if Washington asked Israel to refrain from certain maneuvers, either out of fear the conflict could escalate further or to keep Israel skeptics in the Democratic party from raising complaints.

No such request appears to have been made so far.

“We remain focused on holding the terrorists accountable for their attacks, and we support Israel taking necessary and proportionate action to defend its country and protect its people, and in doing so U.S. citizens living, working and traveling in Israel,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in an emailed statement. At least 11 Americans in Israel are confirmed dead from the attacks, with the administration noting it’s possible U.S. citizens are among Hamas’ hostages.

In previous crises in the region, the Biden administration has taken a paced response. Initially, the U.S. — at least in public — appears to give Israel carte blanche in its response. Over time, Washington ramps up the pressure to compel Jerusalem to agree to a ceasefire. (Secretary of State Antony Blinken released a statement on X two days ago calling for a cease-fire before it was deleted.) This is the playbook Biden used in 2021 during a much smaller skirmish between Israel and Hamas, ending the conflict in 11 days.

On Tuesday afternoon, Biden followed that trajectory by fiercely backing Israel during a White House address.

“The brutality of Hamas, its bloodthirstiness, brings to mind the worst rampages of ISIS. This is terrorism,” Biden said. “We stand with Israel and we will make sure Israel has what it needs to take care of its citizens, defend itself and respond to this attack.” He added that the U.S. will send ammunition and interceptor replacements for Israel's Iron Dome system, which stops rockets shot by Hamas and other groups from hitting targets inside the country.

Israel is stressing the need to operate to the full extent of its military capabilities and so far, the Biden administration appears to be listening. Netanyahu told Biden “we have to go in” to Gaza, explaining that a ground invasion was the only way to root out Hamas, Axios reported. “Biden did not try to press Netanyahu or convince him not to go through with a ground operation,” according to the report.

The administration doesn’t want civilians in Gaza to suffer for Hamas’ alleged war crimes, even though the Israeli Defense Forces already noted some will unfortunately die, largely because Hamas has offices in buildings near homes, schools and businesses.

Asked by a reporter whether the administration had warned Israel in any way not to target civilians, the NSC’s John Kirby notedthat Israel was counterattacking “aggressively, and given the size and scale and the scope of the violence, we understand where that’s coming from.” But, Kirby continued, Israel as a democracy shares values with the United States “when it comes to [the] law of war and respect for life.”

Deputy national security adviser Jon Finer reiterated that point in a Monday night interview on MSNBC, saying, “It is our advice that this war be conducted based on principles of international law.”

That suggests that while there hasn’t been a warning, there is trust within the administration that Israel will do what it can to protect noncombatant Gazans. Meanwhile, Israel has called up around 300,000 reservists to help with the campaign against Hamas — a campaign Netanyahu is talking about in severe terms.

“We have only started striking Hamas,” he said Monday. “What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations.”