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National

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back against President Biden's criticism of Israel's war strategy in Gaza, saying his policies are supported by a majority of Israelis.

Why it matters: The comments help illustrate the widening rift between the two leaders as the Israel-Hamas war grinds on.

State of play: Biden told MSNBC's Jonathan Capehart Saturday that Netanyahu's war strategy in the enclave was "hurting Israel more than helping Israel."

Netanyahu told Politico in an interview published Sunday that he didn't know what Biden meant.

"But if he meant that I am pursuing private policies against the wish of the majority of Israelis and that this hurts the interests of Israel — he is wrong on both counts," Netanyahu said.

"These are policies supported by the majority of Israelis....to say that these are my private policies is false," he added.

Yet Netanyahu has been met with at least some public discontent in recent weeks. Thousands of anti-government protesters filled the streets of several Israeli cities Saturday calling for early elections, Haaretz reported. 

The big picture: While Biden remains committed to supporting Israel, he has begun to break with Netanyahu's government when it comes to Israel's actions in Gaza.

Biden was caught on a hot mic this week saying he was going to have "a come-to-Jesus meeting" with Netanyahu about the situation in Gaza.

The Biden administration has also expressed concern that a potential expansion of Israel's military operation into the southern Gaza city of Rafah would lead to mass casualties.

Biden told MSNBC Saturday that an operation into Rafah would be a "red line" — but did not specify the consequences should it proceed.

Zoom in: Netanyahu defied Biden's concerns and reiterated Israel's intent to move into Rafah, telling Politico, "we'll go there."

"You know, I have a red line. You know what the red line is, that October 7 doesn't happen again. Never happens again," he added.

"He is wrong": Bibi pushes back on Biden's criticism of Gaza war strategy

"These are policies supported by the majority of Israelis," Netanyahu said.

Benjamin Netanyahu at a cabinet meeting in Sept. 2023. Photo: Abir Sultan/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Axios Explains: Israel-Hamas war

Israel

Conflicts, policies and powers are intersecting and shaping the world. Breaking news and analysis of national security, foreign policy and global crises.

World

Several top GOP candidates for Senate share a vulnerability Democrats are itching to exploit — million-dollar homes outside of the states they're running in. 

Why it matters: Faced with a Senate election map that heavily favors the GOP, Democrats are hoping to hold on to their slim majority by painting Republican challengers as out-of-touch out-of-towners.

It's not unusual to see candidates move to the state they want to run in, but "carpetbagger" attacks can be potent. Republican Mehmet Oz's roots in New Jersey were a clear vulnerability for him in Pennsylvania last cycle.

Democrats also hope to use the wealth of Republican candidates to convey the message that the GOP is the party of millionaires — not the middle class.

Zoom in: Former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) has two homes — one in Michigan, where he's running for Senate, and one in Florida, where he's lived and even voted from after retiring from the House in 2014. Michigan "always has been home" for Rogers and his wife, a spokesperson told Axios. 

Republican Pennsylvania candidate Dave McCormick, a hedge fund millionaire, has come under scrutiny for his Connecticut residence. A spokesperson said McCormick is "a divorced dad who spends time with his daughter, and if that's a political problem, so be it."

Republican Eric Hovde is running for Senate in Wisconsin but owns a bank in Utah and a multimillion-dollar home in California.

Tim Sheehy, who's hoping to oust Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), is the multimillionaire CEO of an aerospace company that gets money from federal government contracts. Sheehy has lived in Montana for the past decade but grew up in Minnesota.

Bernie Moreno, running in Ohio, would become one of the wealthiest senators if elected, with a net worth estimated to be between $25 million and $106 million. He owns stakes in multiple properties from Costa Rica to New York City to the Florida Keys. 

What they're saying: "Senate Republicans' roster of recruits is full of carpetbaggers who don't know the first thing about the states they're running in and candidates who bring enough financial scandals and baggage to fill a bank vault," Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesperson Tommy Garcia said in a statement.

The other side: Republicans plan to launch a counterattack, going after vulnerable Democrats such as Tester and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) for accumulating wealth while in office.

"Sherrod Brown has spent his entire life collecting a taxpayer-funded paycheck," Reagan McCarthy, a Moreno spokesperson, told Axios in a statement. "Bernie is proud of the fact that he built a successful company and employed thousands of Ohioans."

"We are also going to inform voters that [Arizona Democrat] Ruben Gallego signed sworn documents stating that his primary residence is Washington, D.C., and that [Michigan Democrat] Elissa Slotkin was until recently 'living' in a lobbyist's house," National Republican Senatorial Committee communications director Mike Berg told Axios in a statement.

"Eric Hovde is a born and raised Wisconsinite, and unlike career politicians like [Democratic Sen. Tammy] Baldwin, he can't be bought by special interests," a spokesperson for Hovde told Axios in a statement.

"Both successful businessmen and political outsiders, [former] President Trump and Tim Sheehy can't be bought and are the conservative warriors we need to put the people of Montana first, drain the swamp, and save our country from the mess Joe Biden and Jon Tester created," a spokesperson for Sheehy told Axios. 

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to say Sen. Sherrod Brown is a Democrat, not a Republican.

Democrats attack Senate GOP's wealthy "carpetbagger" candidates

Democrats aim to paint top GOP challengers as out-of-touch, out-of-towners.

Illustration of a suitcase with a dollar sign shaped arms

2024 elections

2024 will be an election year like no other, as President Biden seeks re-election amid economic uncertainty, two wars and questions about his age. His likely foe, former President Trump, faces felony charges and vows revenge on his political enemies. Meanwhile, Americans generally are dissatisfied with those choices and are divided over immigration, race, education and more.

Politics & Policy

Lawmakers from both parties say they are unsure whether they will support a new bill targeting TikTok in the U.S.

Why it matters: TikTok has been a hot-button political issue for years under both the Biden and Trump administrations amid concerns the Chinese-owned app could pose national security concerns.

The big picture: The new House bill would force TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest its ownership of the app within 165 days or see TikTok banned from app stores.

Members of Congress have been flooded with calls from constituents after TikTok warned users of a "total ban."

The bill's authors have denied the bill would be a complete ban on using the app in the U.S.

State of play: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday that he is "definitely conflicted" about the legislation and hasn't decided how he'll vote on it.

"Banning TikTok, maybe that's necessary to protect American data from China. But if you can find a way to avoid that, that'd be good, too," he said.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told the same program Sunday that he still needs to take a close look at the legislation before deciding how he'll vote. 

"There are real privacy concerns. There are real security concerns. The question is: is there a way to meet those without banning a whole platform that millions of people like using?" Schiff asked.

During a joint appearance with Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) on CBS' "Face the Nation," Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said he still needed to read the bill in detail.

However, Rubio said that so long as ByteDance engineers control the platform's algorithm, they have access to American data, which poses a national security issue.

Warner said Biden's recent decision to join TikTok sent a "mixed message." Last month, Rubio called on Biden to delete his TikTok account.

Zoom out: The Biden campaign joined TikTok last month despite the fact that the president's administration has sought to regulate TikTok and even banned it from federal devices.

During his time in office, former President Trump issued executive orders to try and get ByteDance to sell TikTok, though the efforts were blocked by legal challenges.

Yet Trump reversed course this week by appearing to oppose banning TikTok. 

Some lawmakers undecided on their support for bill targeting TikTok

TikTok has been a hot button political issue for years under both the Biden and Trump administrations.

a TikTok logo seen displayed on a smartphone

A TikTok logo seen displayed on a smartphone. Photo: Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

TikTok

Social Media

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Technology

Face The Nation-children Starving In Gaza  The Unprecedented Crisis-2024-03-10

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called on the Biden administration to suspend or condition aid to Israel during an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday.

Why it matters: Sanders' remarks come amid a growing rift between President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel's strategy in Gaza.

The big picture: "We are looking at the possibility of hundreds of thousands of children starving to death. The United States of America cannot be complicit in this mass slaughter of children," Sanders said.

The U.S. has continuously provided billions of dollars of aid to Israel over the years and there are plans to keep providing aid to the country.

Asked by "Face the Nation" host Margaret Brennan if it's likely that the U.S. would halt or condition aid to one of its closest allies in the Middle East in an election year, Sanders replied that it would be the "right thing to do."

"You can't beg Netanyahu. You have to tell him 'if you want any money, you have to change your policy. Allow the trucks to come in to feed the children,'" he said.

"Stopping American humanitarian aid is in violation of the law. That should be clear. No more money to Netanyahu's war machine to kill Palestinian children," Sanders said, referencing the Foreign Assistance Act, which restricts additional humanitarian aid if a country is found to restrict delivery. 

State of play: Biden was caught on a hot mic on Thursday night promising to get tough with Netanyahu, telling a Democratic senator after his State of the Union address that he was going to have "a come-to-Jesus meeting" with Israel's prime minister about the situation in Gaza.

The Biden administration has faced criticism from progressives over the president's support for Israel.

While Biden is resolute in his determination to stick with Israel, he has begun to break with the Netanyahu government and its war strategy in Gaza.

Dozens of House Democrats have argued to Biden that a possible Israeli operation in Rafah would violate a policy that U.S. military aid be used in accordance with international law.

Biden recently told MSNBC's Jonathan Capehart that the Rafah operation would be a "red line" — but did not specify the consequences should it proceed.

Sanders: U.S. putting conditions on aid for Israel would be "the right thing to do"

"You can't beg Netanyahu. You have to tell him 'if you want any money, you have to change your policy.'"

This Week With George Stephanopoulos-actions And Accountability-2024-03-10

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) defended her decision to support former President Trump's 2024 campaign despite the events of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot during an appearance on ABC's "This Week" Sunday.

Why it matters: It's a reversal for Mace, who criticized Trump in the wake of the riot, calling for him to be held accountable for Jan. 6 and to never hold office again.

State of play: "I listened to my voters in South Carolina and they've moved beyond January 6th," Mace said when asked how she squared her current support for the former president with her previous stance.

Voters have moved on from the Capitol riot and are more concerned with the effects of the Biden administration's policies, she argued.

Asked about her previous claim that Trump should be held accountable for Jan. 6, Mace replied that, "voters held him accountable through our Republican primaries this year. He's won overwhelmingly."

The big picture: Trump is facing 91 criminal counts in four different jurisdictions — including two cases related to Trump's alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. 

Asked if she would support Trump even if he is convicted of a felony, Mace told "This Week" host George Stephanopoulos that the "court cases and lawsuits, that has nothing to do with you or me. It doesn't affect the American people."

Yet polls indicate that nearly three years on from the events of Jan. 6, fears of election-related violence loom large for voters.

Go deeper: How the Republican Party memory-holed Jan. 6

How the Republican Party memory-holed Jan. 6

Rep. Nancy Mace says voters have moved on from Jan. 6

Mace was critical of former President Trump in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Jan. 6

President Biden has begun a tricky maneuver: breaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Gaza war strategy — while sticking with Israel and its fight against Hamas, which is still holding hostages.

Why it matters: No one incident led Biden to start changing his course with Netanyahu, whom he has known for 40 years. It's an accumulation of events and decisions by the prime minister over the last few weeks, U.S. officials tell Axios.

Between the lines: Biden hoped for weeks that he could use the war to push his Saudi mega-deal after the fighting. But in many ways, Biden sees Netanyahu as the one responsible for the deal slipping away.

Behind the scenes: The U.S. officials say Biden — and many other senior officials at the White House and the State Department — are extremely frustrated by what they see as ungratefulness by Netanyahu.

Biden has given the Israeli government unprecedented support over the past five months, at the cost of strong pushback from the president's party during an election year.

Driving the news: Biden's "State of the Union" address contained a huge signal about his shift regarding Netanyahu. The president didn't call him by name, but referred to "the leadership of Israel."

In the speech, Biden was relatively restrained in his criticism of the Israeli government. But a post-speech chat with a Democratic senator, caught on a hot mic, showed that what the president actually thinks is much harsher.

"I told Bibi: 'You and I are going to have a come-to-Jesus meeting,'" he told Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) before realizing he was being recorded.

Biden told MSNBC's Jonathan Capehart that "come-to-Jesus" is "an expression used in the southern part of my state, meaning a serious meeting. ... I've known Bibi for 50 years, and he knew what I meant by it."

Biden told Capehart that Netanyahu "must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken" in Gaza:

"He's hurting Israel more than helping Israel, by making the rest of the world — it's contrary to what Israel stands for. And I think it's a big mistake."

But Biden said he's "never gonna leave Israel. The defense of Israel is still critical."

Zoom out: Biden has reached a point three of his predecessors — Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Donald Trump — also arrived at in their relationship with Netanyahu.

Clinton managed to break with Netanyahu without hurting his pro-Israel record. Obama distanced himself from the prime minister but lost the Israeli people in the process. The consequence of Trump's break with Netanyahu will be known only if he gets re-elected.

But in Biden's case, the stakes are much higher. America's strongest ally in the region is going through its worst crisis in more than 50 years, the region is boiling at the beginning of Ramadan and the presidential election campaign is picking up steam.

Biden breaks with Netanyahu but sticks with Israel

No one incident led Biden to start changing his course with Netanyahu.

Axios

Sunday's top stories

"He is wrong": Bibi pushes back on Biden's criticism of Gaza war strategy

Democrats attack Senate GOP's wealthy "carpetbagger" candidates

Some lawmakers undecided on their support for bill targeting TikTok

Sanders: U.S. putting conditions on aid for Israel would be "the right thing to do"

Rep. Nancy Mace says voters have moved on from Jan. 6

Biden breaks with Netanyahu but sticks with Israel

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