First Lady Jill Biden is urging her husband to take a tougher stance on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, The New York Times reported on Thursday.
Biden is currently under political pressure to call for an end to Israel’s military operations in Gaza against Hamas, the terror group responsible for killing over 1,200 people on Oct. 7, according to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Biden said during a meeting with Muslim community leaders at the White House on Tuesday that the first lady is now giving him that same pressure, sharing with attendees that she had told him to “stop it,” according to NYT. (RELATED: Biden Speaks 1-On-1 With Xi Jinping For First Time In Months)
Biden was responding to an attendee who claimed his wife didn’t want him to go to the meeting because of Biden’s support for Israel’s war, according to NYT. Biden told him that he understood, noting that Jill had told him to “Stop it now, Joe,” Salima Suswell, another attendee at the meeting, told the outlet.
The White House told the NYT there was no disagreement between Biden and the first lady over the war, saying that both were equally angered by the civilian casualties sustained in Gaza. The first lady was not telling Biden to call for a full end to Israel’s counteroffensive efforts, the White House said.
WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 1: US President Joe Biden listens as first lady Dr. Jill Biden speaks alongside the White House Easter Bunnies during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House on April 1, 2024 in Washington, DC. The tradition dates back to 1878 when President Rutherford B. Hayes invited children to the White House for Easter and egg rolling on the lawn. (Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
“Just like the president, the first lady is heartbroken over the attacks on aid workers and the ongoing loss of innocent lives in Gaza. They both want Israel to do more to protect civilians,” Elizabeth Alexander, Jill Biden’s communications director, told the NYT. (RELATED: Israel-Iran Standoff Threatens To Put American Troops Back In The Crosshairs, Experts Say)
The first lady has historically opposed American interventionism in global affairs, in part because Beau Biden — the president’s son — served in Iraq in the late 2000s, according to the NYT. During a White House event in late 2022, she was angered after someone in attendance spoke positively about former president George W. Bush.
“He sent my son to war,” Jill Biden irately told the attendee, according to NYT.
TOPSHOT – A missile explodes in Gaza City during an Israeli air strike on October 8, 2023. Israel, reeling from the deadliest attack on its territory in half a century, formally declared war on Hamas Sunday as the conflict’s death toll surged close to 1,000 after the Palestinian militant group launched a massive surprise assault from Gaza. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP) (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images)
Jill Biden also supported the Biden administration’s botched Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021, which ended in the deaths of 13 U.S. troops and hundreds of Afghani civilians. The Biden administration left behind over $7 billion worth of armaments, including munitions, military aircraft vehicles and operational equipment.
“I think he trusts my intuition as a spouse,” she told the NYT in 2021.
The majority of Biden’s Muslim and younger voting base — and factions within his own administration — are demanding that he call for a ceasefire in the war in Gaza. Biden’s comments on Tuesday came after an Israeli airstrike mistakenly hit an aid convoy in Gaza on Monday, killing seven workers.
GAZA CITY, GAZA – OCTOBER 13: Smoke rises from Israeli air raids on October 13, 2023 in Gaza City, Gaza. At least 1,200 people, including at least 326 children, have been killed and more than 300,000 displaced, after Israel launched sustained retaliatory air strikes after a large-scale attack by Hamas. (Photo by Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images)
Biden was reportedly “outraged” by Israel’s mistake and may address it in his call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, according to Axios. Biden and Netanyahu’s relationship has become increasingly strained in recent months over disagreements as to how the war in Gaza should be conducted.
“Biden is pissed. The temperature regarding Bibi is very high,” a U.S. official told Axios.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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