this post was submitted on 07 Dec 2023
98 points (97.1% liked)

politics

19089 readers
4501 users here now

Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!

Rules:

  1. Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.

Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.

Example:

  1. Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
  2. Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
  3. No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
  4. Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
  5. No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.

That's all the rules!

Civic Links

• Register To Vote

• Citizenship Resource Center

• Congressional Awards Program

• Federal Government Agencies

• Library of Congress Legislative Resources

• The White House

• U.S. House of Representatives

• U.S. Senate

Partnered Communities:

• News

• World News

• Business News

• Political Discussion

• Ask Politics

• Military News

• Global Politics

• Moderate Politics

• Progressive Politics

• UK Politics

• Canadian Politics

• Australian Politics

• New Zealand Politics

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
outrageousmatter@lemmy.world
aidan@lemmy.world
jordanlund@lemmy.world
HLMenckenFan@lemmy.world
little_cow@lemmy.world
98
Democratic support for Biden ticks up on handling of Israel-Hamas war, AP-NORC poll says (apnews.com)
submitted 11 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/politics@lemmy.world
29 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Democratic views on how President Joe Biden is handling the decades-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians have rebounded slightly, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The shift occurred during a time in which Biden and top U.S. officials expressed increased concern about civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip, emphasized the need for a future independent Palestinian state and helped secure the release of hostages held by Hamas during a temporary truce.

Fifty-nine percent of Democrats approve of Biden’s approach to the conflict, a tick up from 50% in November. His latest standing is roughly equivalent to Democrats’ 57% approval rating for him on the issue in an August poll, conducted well before the latest war began on Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked Israel.

Still, the issue remains divisive among Democrats, who are less enthusiastic about Biden’s handling of the war than his overall job performance. Seventy-five percent of Democrats said Biden is doing well as president, also up slightly from 69% last month. His approval rating among U.S. adults stands at 41%.

all 31 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] snipgan@kbin.social 20 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Biden was going to piss off some group of people due to how polarizing the conflict is. I always thought he was doing pretty well even when it began.

His only sore spot seems to come from giving a lot of support to Israel, as they ARE one of our allies, and for us to just ignore that would look bad to our other allies. Especially after having a terrorist attack on their country by the Hamas. Geopolitics being complex beast.

But he has been advocating for civilian safety and making sure the water doesn't get turned off......

Can't say I would've done much better or anyone else here.

I know many are calling for a "permanent" ceasefire........but there was already a ceasefire before this. So, we would just be waiting until it gets "broken" again. Probably by another Hamas attack. Who ARE terrorists and want Israel eliminated altogether.

Let's not also forget if Trump was in charge then this situation would've been handled a lot less gracefully. Or even spiral out of control.

[–] CADmonkey@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago

Let's not also forget if Trump was in charge then this situation would've been handled a lot less gracefully. Or even spiral out of control.

He'd be screaming on Twitter about how they won't let him use nukes.

[–] Keeponstalin@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago

https://www.axios.com/2023/12/01/gaza-ceasefire-collapse-israel-hostages

From the article:

Driving the news: According to the ceasefire agreement, Hamas committed to releasing all the women and children it was holding hostage in exchange for a pause in fighting for up to nine days. More than 80 women and children were released over the last week as part of this process.

Yes, but: In the hours leading to the end of the pause, Hamas did not send a list of hostages it would release, the three Israeli officials said.

Instead, Hamas sent messages through Qatari and Egyptian mediators proposing to start a discussion on what concessions Israel would be willing to give in return for the release of elderly men, the officials added. Behind the scenes: The Israeli officials said Israel made it clear to the mediators that it knows Hamas still has several women in its custody and that it would not discuss future deals before all the women were released.

Mossad chief David Barnea, the lead negotiator on the Israeli side, sent a message to Hamas through the mediators on Thursday night that stressed Israel was "not playing games" and that if the women were not released, the fighting would resume, a senior Israeli official said. Not long after that Hamas launched a rocket from Gaza for the first time since the pause started. An hour later the ceasefire completely broke down. The U.S. has also publicly blamed Hamas for the collapse of the ceasefire. The other side: Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Al-Araby news channel that Israel was responsible for the failure. He said that the women Israel proposed to be released included female IDF soldiers.

Hamdan added that Israel refused any other offer made. Hamas in a statement said it had offered to release elderly men and two Israeli hostages, as well as the bodies of hostages it said were killed during Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. The bodies included a mother and her two children, the statement added. Hamas said it offered to release the father of the children so that he could attend their funeral.

Violence during ceasefire:

Eighteen Palestinians have been killed and at least 20 others injured by the Israel Defence Forces during an hours-long daytime raid on Jenin city and its refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

In the latest escalation in violence on the West Bank, occurring against the background of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, the IDF said an airstrikehit an armed squad of men in the city.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/10/israeli-forces-kill-palestinians-in-daytime-raid-in-west-bank?utm_source=pocket_mylist

AP reports that Israeli troops fatally shot two Palestinians and wounded 11 others as they headed toward [their homes in] the main combat zone in northern Gaza despite warnings by the Israeli army to stay put.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20231124-israel-shoots-at-displaced-palestinians-trying-to-return-home-to-north-gaza/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/2-palestinians-killed-11-wounded-trying-to-reach-north-gaza-despite-idf-warnings-ap/

[–] Candelestine@lemmy.world 18 points 11 months ago (3 children)

I'm just glad he didn't try to stick to his guns, and actually started listening to us, paying attention to the resignations and shit. Otherwise he was gonna go down with that ship, and maybe take us with him.

[–] SCB@lemmy.world 18 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

Biden's policy has not undergone any significant changes regarding Israel at all.

The Biden admin has been urging restraint while backing Israel for 100% of this conflict.

Here he is prior to Israel's invasion, doing exactly that.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/abcnews.go.com/amp/International/biden-embraces-netanyahu-steps-off-air-force-tel/story%3fid=104063578

[–] MegaUltraChicken@lemmy.world 8 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I'd argue their public statements have definitely shifted away from the "Hold Bibi close in public and push back in private" position recently. I don't know if there's been any meaningful policy changes but messaging has changed.

[–] SCB@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago

I would agree that messaging has shifted, which is indeed good news as Dems generally suck ass at messaging

[–] MegaUltraChicken@lemmy.world 8 points 11 months ago

I feel like Biden has been pretty good about listening to the public and generally tries to get the best outcome for people even in shit situations.

[–] Rapidcreek@reddthat.com -1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Over 30 years as chairman of the Foreign Relations committee and 8 years as VP and you know what his thinking was or if it changed?

[–] Candelestine@lemmy.world 10 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Yes, quite easily. He was fully on Netanyahu's side, now he is steadily moving away from him. From this I can conclude that he has decided that supporting Netanyahu is no longer a good idea.

My reasonings why are more supposition, as opposed to any kind of confirmable fact. I cannot read the man's mind, of course. But, some things are more likely than others.

[–] Hyperreality@kbin.social 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

It's not exactly a secret that Biden dislikes Netanyahu and has for a long time. He didn't receive the customary invitation to the white house after his latest election win, which tells you something.

I think Biden decided to be fully on Israel's side after the attack, and to give Netenyahu the benefit of the doubt, hoping he'd rise to the challenge and become a true statesman. Weirder things have happened. Perhaps that was naive, clearly that's not in Netenyahu's nature. Likely it was a decision made in part due to domestic political considerations, but here we are.

Does now make it easier for Biden to criticise Netenyahu and push for moderation. No one can accuse him of not supporting Israel, although I assume the GOP will try to do exactly that if they haven't already.

[–] Rapidcreek@reddthat.com 0 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Foreign Relations is like chess. You have to think several moves ahead. He could have seemed to be with Bibi until he could setup negotiations with Hamas. He had to get space to pressure Qatar to work on his behalf. He knows exactly who Bibi is and what he responds to. That is a much more likely scenario than "we changed his mind".

[–] Candelestine@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Domestic politics is as major a consideration as geopolitics. Perhaps even moreso, as how much can you do if you're not in office?

And we don't need any additional routes towards negotiations with HAMAS. If the Qataris didn't want to do it, we'd ask Erdogan.

[–] Rapidcreek@reddthat.com 0 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

Your goal in this scenario is making every feel good for an election or getting some hostages out? I think it's a good thing that hostages won.

Erdogan expressed his distain for Isreal eary on. He wasn't an alternative in any way.

[–] Candelestine@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

It doesn't matter. He's a politician, he has to deal with hard reality, not how he wishes things could be. Erdogan is an ally, no matter how much we may dislike him sometimes. Elections are a reality, and people vote for what they like.

This is hard reality, where things are not simple or easy.

[–] Rapidcreek@reddthat.com 0 points 11 months ago

If Bibi is the biggest liar on the world stage, Erdogan is the biggest crackpot. Biden can perform better than any former President and still get junk poll numbers. He's been around long enough that his last election probably doesn't taste that sweet.

[–] Hyperreality@kbin.social 0 points 11 months ago

Erdogan has continually expressed his disdain for Greece over the past few years. Now he's entirely changed his tune and is visiting Athens to reset relations.

Don't take what politicians say too seriously.

What they do is less influenced by friendships, ideology, or morality. It's mostly realpolitik, the national interest, or domestic political concerns, matter most and not much else.

[–] Rapidcreek@reddthat.com 3 points 11 months ago

Imagine President Biden saying, "And then we fell in love." about any head of state, especially Kim Jong Un.

Our media would never stop crapping on him for it Just sayin'

[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 2 points 11 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic views on how President Joe Biden is handling the decades-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians have rebounded slightly, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The shift occurred during a time in which Biden and top U.S. officials expressed increased concern about civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip, emphasized the need for a future independent Palestinian state and helped secure the release of hostages held by Hamas during a temporary truce.

Views on the Middle East could shift again now that fighting has resumed in the Gaza Strip, where Hamas is headquartered and thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed by Israeli strikes.

“I’ve been very straightforward and blunt with our Israeli friends in private about what I think they have to do and the burden they have and the commitment they have from me and my administration,” Biden said at a campaign fundraiser in Boston this week.

Sixty-seven percent of U.S. adults call freeing hostages an extremely or very important goal, with majorities of Democrats and Republicans in agreement.

Twenty-eight percent of Republicans said it’s extremely or very important for the U.S. to provide humanitarian relief to Palestinians in Gaza, versus 65% of Democrats.

The original article contains 800 words, the summary contains 206 words. Saved 74%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!