8:58 p.m. ET, December 13, 2023
The White House is struggling to justify Biden's comments about Israel's “indiscriminate bombing” in the Gaza war
By CNN's Nikki Carvajal, Samantha Waldenberg and MJ Lee
The White House struggled on Wednesday to reconcile President Joe Biden's comments to donors that Israel's offensive in Gaza had been “indiscriminate” with the administration's continued insistence that Israel's “intent” was to reduce the number to limit the number of casualties among the civilian population.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was asked multiple times by reporters about Biden's blunt assertion Tuesday that Israel was beginning to lose global support in its war against Hamas because of the “indiscriminate bombing” in Gaza.
Kirby repeatedly stressed that the Biden administration sees Israel's “intent” in minimizing civilian deaths, although the president said Israel was not being thoughtful and careful.
When asked by CNN's MJ Lee why the White House insists on saying that Israel has the “intent” of minimizing civilian casualties, Kirby responded that “sometimes in war… the best laid plans don't exactly come to fruition.” be the way you want it to be.”
“We know this from bitter experience and our own military, no matter how precise and targeted we tried to be in Iraq and Afghanistan. There were times when we also caused civilian casualties,” he said.
There is “a clear intention on the part of the Israelis – an intention that they have publicly admitted – that they are doing everything they can to reduce civilian casualties,” Kirby added.
Kirby, pressed when the White House wanted to argue that Israel wanted to proceed both prudently and cautiously while also bombing indiscriminately in other situations, repeated his earlier arguments.
“We know they intend to. We know they are acting on purpose. Civilian casualties continue to occur. And we will continue to push them to reduce those,” Kirby said.
The spokesman was also asked about Biden's comments that he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “needs to change with this administration.”
“The president recognizes that Israel is a powerful, vibrant democracy and that any change in government must be decided by the Israeli people,” Kirby responded. He did not elaborate on what Biden meant by his comment.
On Biden's comments: At a campaign reception on Tuesday, Biden said most of the world supports Israel but it is beginning to lose that support because of the indiscriminate bombings that are taking place. He also appeared to acknowledge that Netanyahu had admitted to the bombings.
“It was pointed out to me – I'll make it very clear to all of you – that Bibi pointed out to me, 'Well, you carpet-bombed Germany.' You dropped the atomic bomb. Many civilians died.' I said, 'Yeah, that's why all these institutions were created after World War II, to make sure that something like this doesn't happen again – it doesn't happen again,'” Biden said, according to the White House's official transcript of the event.
He also called Netanyahu “a good friend” but said he “needs to change and – with this government.”