REPORT: Biden Officials Admit They Never Pressured Israel for Ceasefire, as Israeli Leaders Boast of Playing Washington
“God did the State of Israel a favor that Biden was the president during this period… We fought [in Gaza] for over a year and the administration never came to us and said, ‘ceasefire now.’ It never did. And that’s not to be taken for granted.”
—Former Israeli ambassador Michael Herzog:
A sweeping Israeli Channel 13 investigation has exposed the Biden administration’s complicity in Israel’s 19-month war on Gaza. Nine top Biden officials acknowledged avoiding real pressure on Israel—even as the death toll surpassed 30,000. Israeli leaders openly bragged they dragged out the war, playing for time until Donald Trump’s return.
Former National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Ambassador Tom Nides, and others defended their unwavering support for Israel—even as they admitted enabling a campaign one U.S. aide described as “killing and destroying for the sake of killing and destroying.”
Here’s what the investigation revealed: 🧵⬇️
1. “Killing and Destroying for the Sake of Killing and Destroying”
➤ Ilan Goldenberg, a senior national security aide, described the war’s aimlessness: “If they’re never going to do this, it doesn’t matter what the outcome is, Hamas is still going to control Gaza. You’re just killing and destroying for the sake of killing and destroying. But you’re not building an alternative.”
➤ U.S. officials pushed a post-war plan modeled on the anti-ISIS campaign, proposing that Arab states temporarily secure Gaza—but Netanyahu blocked it, refusing any role for the Palestinian Authority.
➤ Far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich openly pushed for reoccupying Gaza and rebuilding settlements. Netanyahu refused to advance alternatives, keeping the door open to their demands.
2. “We Fought for Over a Year and the Administration Never Said ‘Ceasefire Now’”
➤ Israeli officials were blunt about the benefits of Biden’s passivity. Former ambassador Michael Herzog declared:
“God did the State of Israel a favor that Biden was the president during this period, because it could have been much worse. We fought [in Gaza] for over a year and the administration never came to us and said, ‘ceasefire now.’ It never did. And that’s not to be taken for granted.”
➤ Biden aides privately admitted Netanyahu was dragging out the war. “He’s undercutting it every step of the way,” said Goldenberg. “All the security people are coming out and saying it.”
➤ He also revealed there were internal discussions in Washington about Biden giving a speech to pressure Israel politically, possibly triggering new elections there—but Biden backed off.
3. U.S. Covered for Israeli War Crimes and Blocked Aid Report
➤ State Department adviser Stacy Gilbert resigned after being cut out of the process of drafting a legally required arms compliance report.
➤ The final version cleared Israel of violating U.S. law—despite overwhelming evidence of aid obstruction. Gilbert called it “shocking in its mendacity,” adding: “Everyone knows that is not true.”
➤ Even as settlers looted Gaza-bound trucks and Israel blocked humanitarian aid, Biden certified compliance—and kept weapons flowing.
4. Netanyahu Sabotaged Captives Release Talks to Prolong the War
➤ Biden officials revealed that Netanyahu deliberately tanked negotiations, fearing a deal would force him to end the war.
➤ American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin was scheduled for release the day he was executed. Amos Hochstein confirmed: “There’s no doubt… those hostages would be alive.”
➤ Netanyahu’s public campaign to retain control over Gaza’s Philadelphi Corridor was viewed by Biden officials as a smokescreen to kill the deal.
5. Biden Backed Israel Even After Netanyahu Publicly Undermined & Insulted Him
➤ Biden once told Netanyahu he was “full of shit,” and hung up the phone mid-call. But as Ambassador Tom Nides put it: “Biden saw [Netanyahu] as a manipulator, a magician… But he stood by him through the end.”
➤ In May 2024, Biden announced he was pausing a shipment of 2,000-lb bombs over concerns about their use in Gaza. Days later, Netanyahu accused the U.S. of freezing broader arms deliveries—reportedly pausing Biden’s plans to restore the paused shipment.
6. Saudi Deal Collapsed Because Israel Refused to Make Any Concessions
➤ Biden officials described how a U.S.-Saudi normalization deal—coupled with defense and economic pacts—was nearly complete. But it required Israel to accept a “political horizon” for Palestinians.
➤ Dan Shapiro, former deputy assistant secretary of defense, explained: “We always understood that the Israeli government depended on far-right ministers who would try to block that commitment… that might require an election or a coalition shuffle.”
➤ Former U.S. ambassador Jack Lew called Israel’s refusal to engage “kind of shocking.”
➤ Amos Hochstein said: “I don’t understand the decision not to grab that opportunity as the most important strategic move Israel can make.”
➤ Herzog claimed Netanyahu deliberately stalled, hoping Trump would return to office and take credit: “It was my understanding that Trump preferred for the deal to wait until he got into office so that he’d be the one to do it.”
Clarification: Negotiators were discussing adding American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin to the release list on the same day he was executed. He was not yet formally “scheduled” for release. Amos Hochstein said: “There’s no doubt… those hostages would be alive.”
The full investigation in Hebrew is available here:
After more than two years of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, Al Araby TV hosted a rare on-air debate from the ruins of Al-Shifa Hospital, between Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem, Fatah spokesperson Munther Hayek, and veteran Palestinian writer and lawyer Mustafa Ibrahim. They discuss October 7, resistance, governance, unity, and the political “day after.”
In the opening exchange, host Islam Badr frames the central question facing Palestinians following two years of annihilation: who has the authority to decide war and peace. Hamas’ Qassem explains that Hamas has long sought a collective national decision through elections, reconciliation, and joint resistance structures, agreeing that decisions about how to confront Israel should be made through a unified Palestinian institution, not by any single faction.
@islambader_1988 | @AlarabyTV
Full discussion in thread below 🧵
Fatah spokesperson Munther Hayek pushes back, arguing that Fatah’s turn to negotiations was taken through the PLO’s national institutions, not unilaterally. He says Hamas, since the internal split, has made decisions of war on its own — pointing to the devastation surrounding them at Al-Shifa Hospital as the outcome.
Hayek stresses that while armed resistance is a legitimate right in principle, direct military confrontation with Israel has repeatedly produced catastrophic results, citing the Second Intifada, Arafat’s killing, and the construction of the apartheid wall. He calls for an “honest review” of strategy, warning that failing to account for the regional and international balance leaves Palestinians paying the highest price.
Palestinian writer and legal researcher Mustafa Ibrahim widens the frame, grounding the debate in the history of Palestinian national liberation. He argues that resistance in all its forms is legitimate under occupation — but that the real crisis is political fragmentation, not ideology.
Ibrahim says October 7 initially enjoyed broad Palestinian support, but what followed exposed the deep political rupture dating back to 2006–07. With Israel now imposing new frameworks — disarmament demands, Trump’s “peace” proposal, backed by a Security Council resolution — he argues Palestinians face an urgent need for a new national agreement, not just tactical debates.
🇺🇳 UN Secretary General’s Office:
“Over the past 24 hours, and despite the ceasefire, the UN has continued to receive reports of air strikes, shelling and gunfire in all 5 governorates of the Gaza Strip.”
The UN says attacks in the past 24 hours have resulted in casualties and disruptions to humanitarian operations. A rescue mission to reach an injured person in Gaza City was denied yesterday.
➤ Shelter crisis worsening in winter conditions:
With a severe lack of shelter, families are staying in partially or heavily damaged buildings to survive the cold and rain. Over the weekend, multiple buildings collapsed during storms, causing casualties, according to humanitarian partners.
🇸🇩🧵We’re kicking off a detailed thread to help you catch up on the catastrophic violence and humanitarian crisis unfolding in Sudan. If you haven’t been following closely, this will give you the essential context.
➤ Up to 400,000 people have been killed since the civil war broke out in April 2023, including an estimated 60,000 in El Fasher in the Darfur region, in just three weeks after its fall in late October 2025. (Yale Humanitarian Research Lab)
➤ Right now, about 21 million people in Sudan face acute hunger, with roughly 375,000 at famine levels, with some 13 million people displaced. (IPC)
➤ The United States plays a key role. It has enormous leverage over the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is the chief external backer of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)—one of the two main warring parties in Sudan.
➤ But experts and rights groups note the Trump administration is not using that leverage at all. In recent State Department briefings, Sec. Rubio and senior Africa officials have refused to even utter the name of the country. By not pressuring the UAE to halt its support, the U.S. is allowing the mass slaughter – “very likely genocide” according to HRW – to continue unabated.
Follow along as we break down the key aspects of the crisis and what’s driving the violence. 👇
——
🔴 Video Clip: Nicole Widdersheim of Human Rights Watch, her voice audibly breaking, describes atrocities against civilians in Sudan that are now “on par, if possibly not worse,” than those during the Darfur genocide two decades ago. (U.S. House Committee on December 11, 2025)
2/ Now let’s get into the strategic picture. The RSF, heavily backed by the UAE, has been making bloody advances. After seizing El Fasher in western Sudan in October, they’ve gained ground in the Kordofan region, seizing key areas like Babnusa and the Heglig oil fields. This puts them on a direct path to the city of El-Obeid—one of the last major SAF strongholds in central Sudan.
Human Rights Watch warned on Thursday that civilians in South Kordofan now face an “imminent risk of mass atrocities to the level and the volume that we saw in al-Fashir just two months ago.”
The Yale Humanitarian Research Lab warns that with the RSF’s advantage in weapons—particularly drones and jammers—they could reach the capital Khartoum again by the next wet season if nothing changes. Meanwhile, aid groups are warning of a new wave of civilian displacement as the RSF pushes east.
Washington has extraordinary leverage over Abu Dhabi through arms sales, business dealings (new cutting-edge AI partnerships), security cooperation (major non-NATO ally), and deep diplomatic ties.
That leverage is not being used.
🚨At the same time, Trump has extensive personal financial interests tied to the UAE, which critics argue help explain the silence and lack of pressure.
Experts following the conflict say the weapons pipeline could be forced shut with pressure on UAE. If it were, a ceasefire could be possible soon as well.
👉 This is what’s largely missing from U.S. media discourse: a genocide-level crisis in Sudan where American decisions are directly shaping and prolonging the slaughter.
➤ On the financial incentives at play, including a $2 billion UAE-linked crypto deal, see this Drop Site thread: 👇
🧵1/ Israel and pro-Israel allies have repeatedly claimed Hamas carried out rapes, even “mass rapes,” on October 7, routinely pointing to a UN report by Pramila Patten as proof.
That narrative was openly challenged last month by Reem Alsalem, UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls (@UNSRVAW), who stated that “no independent investigation has found that rape took place on October 7.”
Her comments triggered a fierce political backlash. Senator @JohnFetterman publicly condemned her, as did a group of more than 300 rabbis and Jewish leaders, and former U.S. antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt, who issued a letter demanding her removal from the UN.
Meanwhile, U.S. political leaders and others continue to cite Patten’s report as definitive, despite Patten herself admitting:
➤ “I did not not collect evidence.”
➤ “I did not conduct an investigation.”
➤ “I received information from sources.”
More on those “sources” and what her report actually does and does not establish in the thread below. 🧵👇
🚨Watch this video first:
2/ Pramila Patten’s March 2024 report stated there are “reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence — including rape and gang-rape — occurred across multiple locations in Israel and the Gaza periphery during the attacks on October 7, 2023.”
However, it’s important to understand what these UN findings actually mean.
🧵THREAD: Drop Site journalists @JeremyScahill and Jawa Ahmad warn that Trump’s Gaza plan contains a “Disarmament Trap.”
The U.S. and Israel – now backed by a stamp of approval from the UN and the widely unpopular Palestinian Authority – are attempting to use the new resolution to secure a surrender of the Palestinian cause and the right to resist occupation. It’s an outcome Israel has failed to achieve through two years of genocide, and across 77 years of occupation and ethnic cleansing.
While Palestinian resistance groups deny ever pledging disarmament to U.S. officials, Hamas and other factions have repeatedly said they are open to a long-term, internationally enforced truce and a form of monitored decommissioning — but not the surrender of the Palestinian people’s right to armed resistance or self-defense under occupation. (Continues below👇)
1/ At a Nov. 6 Miami business conference, Trump adviser Steve Witkoff told investors the U.S. is “in the middle of standing up a decommissioning process” for Gaza’s weapons – a “demilitarization and amnesty program.”
He claimed Hamas already committed to disarmament and told Jared Kushner and him that they would “give the weapons” to an international security force. Witkoff framed disarmament not as a demand, but as a settled fact.
2/ Hamas leaders tell Drop Site Witkoff is inventing history. “No. What he’s saying, I don’t know, but we didn’t say that,” senior leader Osama Hamdan told Jeremy Scahill. “The whole delegation was there and no one said that.”
Any real discussion, he added, “will take time… We have to talk with our brothers and other factions… and when we have a national understanding… we will start to talk to the mediators and the Americans.” The State Department declined comment.
🇸🇩 THREAD: Why Trump Won’t Confront the UAE Over Its Support for Sudan’s Genocidal RSF
Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have spent the past month carrying out a genocidal massacre in al-Fasher, where satellite analysis suggests as many as 200,000 people are now unaccounted for. The RSF’s mass executions, village burnings, ethnic cleansing, and systematic starvation rank among some of the worst atrocities of the 21st century.
Yet the United States, under Donald Trump, has shown no sign of pressuring RSF’s chief external backer: the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A recent report by Forbes details why - The UAE is Trump’s biggest foreign revenue source.
Trump’s current financial entanglements with the Emirates create powerful personal incentives for the President to look away as a genocide unfolds rather than pressure Abu Dhabi.
📸🎥 “A lot of cash. Unlimited cash.” — President Trump could hardly help himself from saying out loud as he stood next to UAE Vice-President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit in Egypt on October 13. A New York Times investigation, citing U.S. intelligence, identified Sheikh Mansour as the senior Emirati official overseeing the UAE’s outreach to Sudan’s RSF — including communications with RSF commander Hemedti and the networks moving money, supplies, and political support to the militia. The Times also published a photo of Sheikh Mansour meeting with Hemedti, as he stands accused of mass killings, mass rapes, and ethnic cleansing across Darfur and beyond. 🧵⬇️
⭕️ *The UAE is Trump’s biggest foreign revenue source*
Since 2022, Trump businesses have entered at least nine UAE-linked deals. Five are Trump Organization licensing agreements that pay ongoing fees for the use of the Trump name on golf courses, hotels, and residential projects. Licensing contracts require no construction or ownership from Trump. They are pure cash streams. New filings estimate these UAE-connected deals will bring in about 500 million dollars in 2025 alone, with at least 50 million in recurring annual income. No other foreign country provides comparable revenue to the Trump family.
⭕️ Key Emirati businessmen directly fund Trump enterprises
Chief example is Hussain Sajwani - the Emirati billionaire founder of Damac Properties who built Trump International Golf Club Dubai and Trump-branded communities in Damac Hills. His companies reportedly pay Trump about 6 million dollars per year in licensing and management fees. He celebrated Trump’s 2016 victory at Trump’s DC hotel and met Trump at Mar-a-Lago again in January, promising 20 billion dollars in US investment. Damac remains positioned to benefit from new Trump-branded developments across the Gulf.