US Reputation Wanes: Global Criticism Grows Over Its Stance on Israel-Hamas Conflict

• The Biden administration’s support for Israel impacts the U.S.’s global reputation.
• The U.S. initially vetoed UN Security Council demands.
• Biden criticized Israel’s actions, contrasting them with Trump’s unequivocal support.

President Joe Biden declared upon entering office that “America is back,” but as his administration supports Israel in its conflict with Hamas, the nation’s reputation abroad is suffering. This is almost three years later.

After laborious negotiations, the US on Friday approved a UN Security Council resolution on humanitarian supplies for the Gaza Strip, reversing its previous veto of two demands to stop the bloodshed. This was a step back from the US’s newfound isolation.

However, the resolution was supported by Britain, France, and Japan, three of the United States’ closest friends. Only Russia abstained, along with the United States.

Only two European allies—Austria and the Czech Republic—and none of its Asian allies supported the United States a week prior in the full General Assembly when it voted against a nonbinding ceasefire request in the conflict that was sparked by Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.

According to Leslie Vinjamuri, head of Chatham House’s US and Americas program in London, most European officials still consider Joe Biden’s strong backing of Ukraine against Russia’s invasion when discussing the US.

“How it’s playing right now in the rest of the world is that the United States cares about Israelis, cares about Ukrainians and really doesn’t care about brown people. Unfortunately, that’s the kind of narrative that’s taken off,” she said.

While the US continues to guarantee military supplies and diplomatic protection, Biden has publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s inability to defend Gazan civilians, in contrast to his predecessor Donald Trump, who unabashedly supported Israel.

Officials from the Biden administration claim that their diplomatic efforts have paid off, as Israel has agreed to allow fuel imports, restore Internet connectivity, and open borders into Gaza.

However, Vinjamuri noted that the narrative that Biden is “hugging Netanyahu close, and then pressing him hard quietly, worked for about a week” as pictures of Gaza’s suffering became more widespread.

Only 7% of Arab publics surveyed last month felt that the US had a beneficial influence on the conflict, according to Munqith Dagher, Gallup International’s Middle East director.

Since the Iraq invasion two decades ago, Washington’s standing has significantly declined in the Arab world, but up until recently, 15 to 30 percent of people held a positive opinion of the US, according to Dagher, who established the Al Mustakilla study group in Iraq.

He claimed that although “Gaza took out the last leaf, as they say,” the US “trademark” stood for “many good things, especially for intellectuals and middle classes, like democracy, human rights, and freedom of speech.”

According to him, social media has exposed Arab audiences to uncensored footage from Gaza, exposing Washington’s “total bias toward the Israelis and denial of the human rights of Palestinians.”

According to Dagher, polls revealed that China, Russia, and—most remarkably—Iran—which has long-standing conflicts with the Arab world but—unlike other regional governments—has supported Hamas—have benefited the most from Arab opinion.

According to an AFP calculation based on Israeli estimates, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has encouraged the world to concentrate its fury on Hamas, whose fighters infiltrated Israel on October 7, killing over 1,140 people and kidnapping about 250 more.

In response, Israel has launched an unrelenting air and ground war that, according to Hamas officials, has killed over 20,000 Palestinians, the most of whom were women and children.

According to Blinken, the US has “done more than any other country” in terms of providing help to Gaza.

Governments “want to work with us and are looking for American leadership in this crisis — even countries that may disagree with us on certain issues,” Blinken told reporters Wednesday.

China has increased its regional diplomacy, but the Biden administration has tried to call it bluff, pushing Beijing to use its clout with Tehran to stop the Houthi rebels in Yemen who are backed by Iran from attacking commercial vessels.

China’s Middle East security infrastructure is relatively small, but in response to the Houthi strikes, the United States dispatched an aircraft carrier and formed a coalition of nations to safeguard crucial maritime routes.

The Biden administration is prioritizing a “pragmatic” solution that addresses the threat posed by Hamas above a “symbolic” call for a ceasefire, according to Brian Katulis, vice president of policy at the Middle East Institute in Washington. However, Katulis noted that the administration is obviously aware of the public’s outrage.

According to Katulis, “the ones secured in part by the security umbrella the United States provides” are many of the Arab countries that criticize US foreign policy.

“I detect more than a bit of schizophrenia in a lot of statements coming out of the Arab world. They can’t live with us; they can’t live without us.”

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