How Netanyahu Pushed Biden to the Edge of His ‘Red Line’

It was a decision President Biden didn’t want to make.

He had warned Israel nearly two months ago against a full-scale assault on Rafah, the Gaza city whose population had swelled to more than one million as Palestinians sought shelter from the fighting. Finally, Biden took a step he had long resisted.

Last week, officials say, he put a hold on a pending shipment of 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs to Israel, an almost unheard-of show of displeasure with a Middle East ally that Biden hoped would prompt Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to rethink its approach for bringing the conflict to an end.

Reinforcing the policy shift, Biden said Wednesday that he was prepared to withhold additional weapons, including artillery shells, from Israel should Israeli forces mount a major ground operation in Rafah.