Former US president Joe Biden has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of repeatedly failing to honour assurances that he would take steps to limit civilian casualties in Gaza, saying the Israeli leader continued military operations despite private appeals to protect civilians.
In his forthcoming memoir, Promise Me, America, Biden recalls several conversations in which he raised concerns over the mounting death toll following Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. He says Netanyahu acknowledged the damage the civilian casualties were causing to Israel's international standing and to American support for the war, but failed to act on his promises.
Excerpts from the book, scheduled for release on November 17, were published by CNN on Friday.
“I had been calling on Israel to take precautions to reduce civilian suffering since the beginning of the conflict,” Biden writes. “I had expressed these concerns privately in many conversations with Bibi, who acknowledged the damage that these rising casualties were doing to Israel’s image, and to US support for the war."
He goes on to describe what he saw as a recurring pattern in Netanyahu's responses to his concerns.
"But a familiar pattern established itself: He would promise to do more, and then another aggressive action would follow, killing more civilians. When we called them on it, the Israelis always had an explanation or excuse, but the result was the same. Bibi had no qualms about making promises he had no power — or intention — to keep,” Biden writes.
Biden's frustration with Netanyahu
The former president also reflects on his long relationship with Netanyahu, saying he grew increasingly frustrated with what he viewed as the Israeli leader's focus on immediate political considerations rather than Israel's long-term interests.
“While I understood that he was working under severe pressures, I was frustrated by his failure to think like a statesman and safeguard Israel’s long-term interests, not just his own short-term political needs,” Biden writes.
Biden's account comes amid criticism he faced from sections of his own Democratic Party over Washington's continued support for Israel during the war, despite the growing civilian death toll and calls for stronger pressure on Netanyahu.
Hamas' October 7 attack killed around 1,200 people, according to the supplied account. Israel's subsequent offensive has killed close to 75,000 Palestinians, including children, according to Gaza Health Ministry figures cited by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Widespread displacement and restrictions on food and humanitarian assistance have further worsened conditions in the territory.
Biden defends his 2024 election campaign
The memoir also revisits Biden's decision to seek a second term in the 2024 presidential election. He rejects criticism that he should have stepped aside earlier, arguing that he remained the strongest candidate to challenge Donald Trump.
Biden says no major Democratic contender challenged him in the primaries and that concerns about his age came to dominate the campaign.
“The press and pundits kept talking about how weak I was. But every purportedly serious candidate decided not to run against me because I was too strong. The primaries sent no warning signs that I was in trouble. But that couldn’t derail the narrative setting in on my candidacy. That I was too old. That I was declining mentally,” Biden writes, as per CNN.
He also contests criticism of his mental fitness following former special counsel Robert Hur's February 2024 report on his handling of classified documents. Biden argues that the circumstances of his October 8 and 9, 2023, interview with Hur were overlooked, as it took place immediately after the Hamas attack.
“Being president requires a remarkable amount of gear shifting every day — from negotiating with foreign leaders to pursuing domestic policy, from visiting a disaster site to rubbing elbows with fundraisers. Hur’s commentary was especially outrageous when you think about the context of the interview that he based it on. I sat down for over five hours with Hur and his people across October 8 and 9 of 2023,” Biden writes.
“I had been up all night dealing with the aftershocks of a profound change to the global order. Go ask the Israeli leadership if they thought they were dealing with a diminished president that day. Go watch the address I gave to the nation that day and ask yourself if I was old and enfeebled. Or watch the trip I took to Israel eleven days later,” the exceprt from his book read.
Memoir revisits classified documents controversy
The book also returns to the controversy surrounding classified documents found at an office Biden used at the University of Pennsylvania and at his Delaware home. The discoveries led to Hur's appointment as special counsel in 2023.
The investigation brought Biden's former ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer under scrutiny after recordings of interviews with the former president were examined. One recording, made in February 2017, captured Biden saying, “I just found all the classified stuff downstairs!”
Zwonitzer was subpoenaed, his computer was seized and he faced the possibility of criminal charges. House Republicans also referred him for contempt of Congress, setting off years of legal proceedings.