“Invasion” seems to be the word of the week in Washington, but the Biden administration is doing everything it can to avoid using it with respect to Israel's military campaign in Rafah.
President Joe Biden has been calling Israel's deadly strikes on the congested Palestinian enclave and the seizure of its border crossing a “limited operation”.
If it is indeed an “invasion”, it's cause to call the President's bluff – he said last week that Washington would not approve more bombs for Israel if it went forward with a Rafah invasion.
But this week, Republicans on Capitol Hill confirmed to me that Mr Biden had notified Congress that he plans to move forward with an extra $1 billion in support for the US ally, despite that “limited operation”, or whatever you like to call it.
Meanwhile, rights groups told me this week that the State Department's assessment that there is not conclusive evidence that the Israelis have violated international law is “untruthful”.
And a deeply pro-Israel Congress galvanised efforts to further protect the US ally from any potential halt on support for the Gaza war.
Lawmakers brought forward a string of bills that would force the Biden administration to continue financial and military support for Israel even if it did choose to act on that ever-fading Rafah red line.
At least one of them, though, the Israeli Security Assistance Act, is doomed to fail – Mr Biden announced he would veto it if passed.
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EYE ON 2024
Trump takes Biden's debate bait
If President Biden's video invitation is any indication of the tone of the premier 2024 presidential debates with his Republican rival Donald Trump, Americans should brace for a bitter, possibly petty, exchange between the presidential candidates.
“Make my day, pal,” Mr Biden said in a video posted to X, challenging his predecessor to a face-to-face debate.
Hours later, Mr Trump accepted the offer, issuing his own barbs.
“Crooked Joe Biden is the WORST debater I have ever faced – He can’t put two sentences together!” he wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.
CNN is set to host the first debate in June.
What's Washington talking about?
China EVs There appears to be one thing that the two rivals can agree on, and that's China tariffs. President Biden extended one element of Mr Trump's White House legacy this week when he unveiled steep new tariffs on Chinese imports, including electric vehicle batteries. He's raising the tariff rate on Chinese-made EVs from 25 per cent to 100 per cent in a bid to counter what he called Beijing's unfair practices and level the playing field for US car makers and automotive workers.
Bob Menendez The high-profile corruption trial of US Senator Bob Menendez started on Monday with jury selection, as the long-time Washington foreign policy official prepares to face charges that he engaged in corruption and aided the Egyptian and Qatari governments.
Captagon Washington's Near Eastern Affairs deputy assistant secretary Ethan Goldrich projected some of his key concerns for 2025 with respect to the Captagon drug trade that has helped to bolster Syrian President Bashar Al Assad's regime amid strict international sanctions. Mr Goldrich told a conference hosted yesterday by the New Lines Institute that he has concerns about the drug's growing reach, despite sharpened regional efforts and a crackdown by Washington, and how worsening humanitarian conditions within Syria may further fuel the narcotic's production within the country.
QUOTED
'The free world is with you'
– Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week played a cover of Neil Young's 'Rockin' in the Free World' with a band in Kyiv
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Spotlight: Biden comments on Israel weapons pause draw mixed reaction from US Jewish community
Jewish-American organisations issued varying responses to US President Joe Biden's threats to halt some weapons shipments to Israel amid an assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
“We are deeply disappointed and dismayed by President Biden’s counterproductive remarks regarding the potential cessation of congressionally mandated aid to our ally Israel,” Harriet Schleifer and William Daroff, heads of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organisations, said in a statement.
Influential lobbying group the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee used X to share posts showing support for politicians criticising the Biden administration for appearing to abandon its ally.
But Americans for Peace Now, a progressive Jewish group focused on bringing an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, called the Biden administration's decision “necessary”, given the high risk to civilians in Rafah.
“This difficult decision reflects the gravity of the crisis, and many months of brazen defiance by the Netanyahu government of its most important ally and friend. Aid to Israel cannot proceed as if nothing has changed and Netanyahu remains a trusted ally,” APN said in a statement.
Only in America
Boeing at risk of US prosecution for breaching deal over crashes
Boeing faces possible criminal prosecution after the US Justice Department found the company breached a deferred-prosecution agreement tied to two fatal crashes half a decade ago, intensifying the crisis engulfing the embattled plane maker.
The company breached the $2.5 billion settlement “by failing to design, implement, and enforce a compliance and ethics programme to prevent and detect violations of the US fraud laws throughout its operations”, according to the filing late on Tuesday.
The decision escalates the legal risks facing the plane maker in the wake of a near-catastrophe in early January, when a fuselage panel blew off an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 mid-flight after workers failed to install critical bolts.
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