Obama aides say Biden isn’t exerting enough pressure on Israel. ‘Outrage does nothing’

President Joe Biden, in an April 2 statement, said he was “outraged and heartbroken” about Israel’s killing of seven humanitarian aid workers in Gaza.

Privately, he is “enraged” by Israel’s bombing of World Central Kitchen aid workers delivering food and believes the Israeli government is “not listening” to his advice, according to Politico.

But his words alone — whether spoken publicly or privately — are far from enough, according to two prominent officials from former President Barack Obama’s administration.

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“The President doesn’t get credit for being ‘privately enraged’ when he still refuses to use leverage to stop the IDF from killing and starving innocent people,” Jon Favreau, a onetime speechwriter for Obama, wrote in an April 3 post on X, formerly Twitter.

“These stories only make him look weak,” Favreau, now a host of popular podcast “Pod Save America,” added.

Favreau clarified in a subsequent post that he supports most of Biden’s policies “but hate(s) his Israel policy.”

Hours later, Ben Rhodes, a former deputy national security adviser to Obama, expressed similar criticism.

“The U.S. government is still supplying 2 thousand pound bombs and ammunition to support Israel’s policy,” Rhodes wrote in a post on X. “Until there are substantive consequences, this outrage does nothing.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “obviously doesn’t care what the U.S. says,” Rhodes said. “(It’s) about what the U.S. does.”

The comments from the ex-Obama aides come just days after Obama voiced his support for Biden’s Israel policy, according to the Financial Times.

Biden has demonstrated “moral conviction and clarity” through his handling of the Israel-Hamas war, Obama said at a March 28 fundraiser in New York City, according to the outlet.

“He’s also willing to acknowledge that the world is complicated and that he’s willing to listen to all sides in this debate,” the former president said, according to the outlet.

More than 30,000 Palestinians, many of whom are women and children have been killed during Israel’s war in Gaza, which has now entered its sixth month, according to The Associated Press, citing Gazan officials, who don’t distinguish between combatant and non-combatant casualties.

The majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced, and about 25% of them now face starvation, according to the AP.

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