For the third time in a week, the United States has blocked the United Nations Security Council from approving a resolution that denounces violence on both sides and calls for a cessation of hostilities in the Israel-Gaza conflict. Is it a case of giving diplomacy a chance, or siding with Israel as a default position? The US ambassador to the UN insists that Washington is "working tirelessly through diplomatic channels" to end the worst fighting in years.
Little did Joe Biden know this time last week that he had be drawn into his first major Middle East test as president and that it would morph into his biggest challenge to date from within his own camp. Never has the progressive wing of the Democratic Party been so vocal in its support of the Palestinians. Can the same big tent party that rallied around Biden's recovery plan really feud in public over the fighting between Israel and Gaza?
After four years of unconditional US support for Benjamin Netanyahu, we ask our panel if the tide is turning in Washington, where Israeli hawks have for years relied on a coalition of conservative Jews and fundamentalist Christians. As for Israel's longest-serving prime minister, will another war with Gaza keep him in the saddle or send him packing?
Produced by Charles Wente, Juliette Laurain and Imen Mellaz.
