US ‘concerned’ by Israel’s isolation, Biden national security adviser says

The US is concerned about Israel’s growing diplomatic isolation among countries that have traditionally supported it, Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said on Wednesday.

Sullivan’s remarks, at a White House briefing, followed the announcement by Ireland, Spain and Norway that they will next week formally recognise a Palestinian state. They also came amid efforts by the Biden administration and Congress to coordinate a response to a decision by the international criminal court (ICC) to seek an arrest warrant for Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, over Israeli actions in Gaza.

Asked if he was concerned about Israel’s diplomatic isolation, Sullivan – who is due to visit the country in the coming days – answered affirmatively.

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“I think it’s a fair question,” he said. “As a country that stands strong in defense of Israel in international forums like the United Nations, we certainly have seen a growing chorus of voices, including voices that had previously been in support of Israel, drift in another direction. That is of concern to us because we do not believe that that contributes to Israel’s long-term security or vitality … So that’s something we have discussed with the Israeli government.”

The best way to address it, Sullivan said, was for Israel to pursue a strategy of defeating Hamas in Gaza while seeking to protect civilians and ensuring the delivery of humanitarian aid. At the same time, Israel should embrace a two-state solution – something Netanyahu’s government fiercely opposes – as part of a regional settlement that would see Israel peacefully integrated with moderate Arab states.

However, Sullivan appeared critical of the Irish-Norwegian-Spanish move to recognise Palestinian statehood, saying the goal could only be achieved through a negotiated agreement.

“President Biden … has been on the record supporting a two-state solution. He has been equally emphatic on the record that that two-state solution should be brought about through direct negotiations through the parties, not through unilateral recognition,” he said.

“We believe the only way that you are going to achieve a two-state solution that delivers for both Israelis and Palestinians is through direct negotiations between the parties.”

Nevertheless, he criticised Israel’s decision to respond to the tripartite recognition by withholding funds from the Palestinian Authority, saying: “I think it’s wrong on a strategic basis because withholding funds destabilises the West Bank. It undermines the search for security and prosperity for the Palestinian people, which is in Israel’s interests. And I think it’s wrong to withhold funds that provide basic goods and services to innocent people.”

Sullivan expanded on comments to the Senate foreign relations committee by the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, on Tuesday in which he said the administration was ready to work with Congress on enacting potential penalties against the ICC in response to its bid to seek Netanyahu’s arrest.

“We’re in consultations on a bipartisan, bicameral basis with [Capitol] Hill on all of the options for how to respond to what the ICC has just done. We haven’t made any determinations,” Sullivan said.

The ICC’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, announced on Monday that he was pursuing warrants for Netanyahu’s arrest, as well as that of the Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, and three senior Hamas figures, Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismael Haniyeh.

The move was denounced as “outrageous” by Biden, who said it assumed a false moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas, which is officially designated as a terrorist group by the US, Britain and the European Union.

Republicans in the Senate and House of Representatives have publicly mooted legislation against the ICC, of which the US is not a member, although it has supported some of its previous attempts at mounting prosecutions, notably against the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, over the invasion of Ukraine.

About 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, were killed and 250 kidnapped when Hamas, which has run Gaza since 2007, staged a surprise attack on southern Israel on 7 October last year. About 36,000 Palestinians – mostly women and children – have been killed in Israel’s military response.