China’s state-run Global Times propaganda newspaper dismissed on Monday growing criticism from President Joe Biden and his administration toward Israel as a last-minute “stopgap measure” to prevent a growing number of voters on the left from abandoning his 2024 presidential campaign.
Chinese regime-approved “experts” told the newspaper that Biden’s “superficial criticism” was a response to polls and not an indication of Biden’s political views. The state outlet claimed that the change in tone was indicative of America’s “hypocrisy” and a “double face” intended to amass power, one that has led to American global influence “declining immensely.”
The same Global Times suggested in November, a month after the October 7 massacre of civilians by Hamas in Israel, that Biden needed to become more vocally pro-Hamas to avoid losing Muslim-American votes in the presidential race. It did not take any credit on Monday for Biden’s more recent anti-Israel rhetoric.
“To deal with domestic and international pressure, the US is beginning to show a ‘double face’ on Israel-related issues: criticizing Israel’s military activities in Gaza on the one hand while reaffirming its firm support for Israel on the other,” the Times, a mouthpiece for the opinions of the Chinese government, asserted. “This self-contradiction precisely reflects the Biden administration’s increasingly divided policy and fully demonstrates the hypocrisy of US diplomacy.”
“The so-called harsh criticism on Israel is nothing but a stopgap measure aimed at easing domestic and international pressure on the US government. What matters most to US politicians are their political interests,” the newspaper concluded.
A man holds a sign depicting U.S. President Joe Biden as the devil as people rally in support of Palestinians in Brooklyn, New York, on October 21, 2023. (KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images)
Its usual stable of regime-approved “experts” claimed the Biden administration has “clearly realized that its blind support for Israel has negatively impacted Biden’s approval ratings in some key swing states,” and Biden is now trying to politically course-correct. The “experts” appeared pessimistic that Biden’s souring on the Israeli government publicly would improve his presidential chances against vocally pro-Israel former President Donald Trump, suggesting it would “backfire.”
“Clearly, the protests at colleges and universities across the US regarding the Palestine-Israel conflict have failed to awaken and prompt reflection in the US,” the Times concluded. “Continuing on the wrong path will only lead to further negative consequences for the US.”
China responded to the October 7 atrocities — which included infanticide, gang rape, the torture of the elderly and disabled, and desecration of corpses — by condemning Israel and supporting the Hamas cause of the creation of a Palestinian State. Chinese officials revealed in April that they had hosted talks between Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization, and the Palestinian political party Fatah aimed at “unity,” without elaborating. Beijing also sent a delegation to Qatar to meet with senior Hamas leaders a month before the public revelation of that “unity” meeting.
The Global Times‘ assessment of Israel’s ongoing struggle to defend itself from genocidal terrorists follows the publication of several polls indicating a lack of enthusiasm for the Biden campaign. A series of polls from the New York Times, Siena, and the Philadelphia Inquirer published Monday found a growing number of voters in swing states declaring that they did not believe there was a chance they would vote for Biden. Multiple campaigns targeting Muslim-American voters in the Midwest have also challenged Biden through attempts to deprive him of Democrat primary votes, urging voters to choose “uncommitted,” instead.
A flyer instructing voters to write “uncommitted” on ballots in solidarity with Palestinians is seen on a telephone pole in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 23, 2024. (Thomas Hengge/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“Muslim Americans have come together finally to state in completely clear terms that the position of the Biden administration … is a red line for all Muslim Americans,” Hassan Abdel Salam, the head of a movement called the #AbandonBiden National Coalition, said in December.
In the months following the October 7 attack, Biden has repeatedly asserted that he would offer Israel “ironclad” support in defending itself. The public assurances outraged the radical left and resulted in at least one high-profile resignation from the State Department.
More recently, Biden and senior members of his administration have been vocally critical of the war against Hamas. In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Biden condemned the Israeli government for planning operations in Rafah, the southernmost portion of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Biden admitted to holding up weapons shipments to Israel and called any operation into “population centers” in Rafah “just wrong.”
Left-wing leaders celebrated Biden’s apparent rejection of Israeli self-defense operations.
“This is what young people across the country were protesting for and, finally, the needle has moved in a significant way,” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), wrote on social media. “I hope we see more progress, but don’t ever let people tell you that your voices are meaningless and your actions are worthless. The arc of what is possible is always within us to bend.”
The Israeli government lamented the remarks. Israeli U.N. envoy Gilad Erdan called them “difficult and very disappointing” and suggested they could become a problem for Biden in the 2024 election.
“Of course, any pressure on Israel is interpreted by our enemies as something that gives them hope,” Erdan said in remarks to the Israeli public broadcaster KAN. “There are many Jewish Americans who voted for the president and for the Democratic Party, and now they are hesitant.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.