“The world must not be cowed by the horrors of October 7,” US President Joe Biden said Tuesday in his speech before the 79th UN General Assembly. It was the only supposedly or purportedly categorical phrase in a speech, his last as president before this body, in which, in addition to his status as outgoing president, Biden has taken special care to avoid new problems for Kamala Harris, if she wins the November elections, since the scenario of Lebanon on the brink of all-out war was the last thing Democrats expected in the final stretch of the campaign. Perhaps that explains the lukewarmness of his words on the Middle East.
Biden has placed the entire burden of proof on Hamas and Hezbollah, whom he has accused of starting the current war and fuelling the conflict in the region in an escalation that, he stressed, the US has tried to avoid from day one. As he has been doing since October 7, the US president has reiterated Israel’s right to defend itself and denounced the death and suffering of “thousands of innocent civilians” in the Strip. Regarding the current situation, and his fear of a “large-scale war that benefits no one”, Biden has resorted to the same optimism that he articulated in his speech: “Although the situation has worsened, a negotiated solution is still possible.” The same, or similar, one that the US has been working on with Qatar and Egypt while being snubbed, almost to the point of exasperation, by the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu. Washington’s growing discontent with the most far-right cabinet in Israel’s history has, however, not found any echo in the discourse.
Gaza and, by extension, Lebanon were only third on Biden’s list of pressing issues that should concern the international community, behind Ukraine – President Volodymyr Zelensky was in the room – and trade competition, as well as growing cooperation, for example in the area of the fight against synthetic drugs, with China. In his fourth speech before the UN General Assembly – the first, he recalled, was marked by the withdrawal from Afghanistan – he expressed his conviction that “it is time for the parties to come to an agreement. This war must end” through negotiations that lead to a two-state solution. In a forum where his ambassador has repeatedly torpedoed ceasefire resolutions – although the president again defended on Tuesday the reform of the Security Council, which has allowed such vetoes – the president’s speech sounded weak, even for what could be expected from someone who has only a few months left in office. He was greeted with lukewarm applause, less so than his reference to the war in Ukraine, a conflict in which he urged the world to “not look away or lower its guard” when it comes to supporting kyiv.
Calling “Putin’s war” a “failure,” Biden warned against the temptation of war fatigue, and did so under pressure from many of his Western allies to allow Ukraine to use longer-range weapons supplied by NATO countries to strike inside Russia. But the expiration of his mandate, as well as his fear that further Ukrainian penetration of Russian territory could trigger a direct conflict between Moscow and NATO, have tempered his speech, in which he only expressed his willingness to support Ukraine “until it achieves a fair and lasting peace,” without giving further details. He will have the opportunity to be more specific at his meeting with Zelensky in Washington next Thursday.
His white His speech on Gaza was full of the key ideas that his administration has outlined over the past year: the need to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, as well as facilitating the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave. “Now is the time for the parties to finalize the terms, return the hostages and guarantee the security of Israel and Gaza, alleviate the suffering in Gaza and end this war,” he told the General Assembly. His tepidity contrasted sharply with the direct interpellation of Israel by the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, who in his inaugural speech attributed to that country the responsibility for the failure of any attempt at a negotiated solution. “The international community must mobilize to achieve an immediate ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and the beginning of an irreversible process towards a two-state solution. Those who continue to undermine that objective with more settlements [en Cisjordania]more land grabs, more incitement [a la violencia por parte de los colonos judíos]…I ask you: What is the alternative? How could the world accept a one-state future that includes such a large number of Palestinians without any freedom, rights or dignity?” Guterres asked Israel.
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In a year when half the world’s population will go to the polls, “something that will affect all of humanity,” Guterres stressed, Biden seemed to hide behind the comfort of the November meeting to make a speech that was immediately dismissed as irrelevant by some leaders present in the room. The optimism that ran through his speech provoked grimaces of stupor on the faces of the Palestinian representatives, who for the first time participated in the solemn plenary session as an observer State, and of some other Arab diplomats, especially the Lebanese delegation. While the country of the cedars is the object of the most brutal violence since the civil war (1975-1990), his call to avoid “a large-scale war” that “does not benefit anyone” rang hollow; so did his toast to diplomacy.
The Democrat also had words for the crisis that has opened in Venezuela after the last elections, recognizing the struggle “for freedom” of “voters who cast their vote for a change” that “cannot be denied.” Biden compared Venezuelan voters to the “brave men and women” behind feats such as the end of apartheid or the fall of the Berlin Wall. “I have seen it all over the world: the brave men and women who ended apartheid, tore down the Berlin Wall and are fighting today for freedom, justice and dignity. We saw that universal journey towards rights and freedom in Venezuela, where voters cast their vote for a change that cannot be denied,” he said. A certain historical aftertaste — he began his speech by talking about the Vietnam War and the Cold War, and the progress made since then — and that display of timeless optimism defined a speech that will not be remembered in the annals, at least in those of oratory.
