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Barbara Leaf, the US assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, said on Wednesday that the Israel-Gaza war had stoked up public anger towards Israel and the US.
“I will say very candidly, this conflict has roiled up a huge amount of public anger towards Israel, towards us. This is something we're going to have to work through,” she told the House foreign affairs committee.
She spoke to the committee alongside the deputy assistant secretary of defence for the Middle East, Dana Stroul, at a hearing on support for Israel after the October 7 Hamas attack.
Ms Leaf also said that relations between Israel and its fellow Abraham Accords signatories have been challenged amid a surge in public anger over the war in Gaza.
“The good news is those countries that have established relations with Israel have a continuing commitment to those relationships. Obviously, they're strained at this point, the channels of communication are strained,” Ms Leaf said.
She acknowledged that the Israel-Gaza war has created challenges when faced with questions over whether “Iran and Iranian proxies” are using the conflict to undermine the accords.
The war between Israel and Gaza, at a scale unseen in the past 50 years, has raised questions about Washington's priorities for the Abraham Accords, which led to the UAE and Bahrain signing their first agreements with Israel.
The accords have strong bipartisan support in Congress and President Joe Biden's administration has so far centred its regional policy around the goal of expanding them to Saudi Arabia.
Washington's posture on the war in Gaza has put it at odds with many of its key regional partners, including Jordan, which has called out a double standard on western response to the violence.
Ms Leaf, who returned from a trip to the region this week, argued that despite differences, partners “want US leadership” on the Israel-Gaza war.
“Our partners are scrutinising our response, as are our strategic competitors,” she said.
Arab partners “fear the irreparable displacement of the Palestinian people in this process”, Ms Leaf added.
“They want to know how much political capital the US is willing to invest towards a two-state solution.”
Optimism about a Saudi-Israel agreement had been increasing in the days leading up to the Hamas attack, but the violence has complicated that.
Ms Leaf said that in conversations with Riyadh, Washington was “just on the cusp, beginning with discussions about what we call the Palestinian component” to a normalisation agreement.
“It's something that I would expect to be able to resume on the other side of this crisis,” she added.
Last week, experts argued that the Israel-Gaza war has served as a check on the Biden administration's priorities on advancing the accords absent efforts on alleviating the plight of Palestinians.
Brian Katulis, senior fellow and vice president of policy at the Middle East Institute, told The National that “even while you try to have those proactive, big picture visions, you can't really succeed if you try to push certain thorny issues like the Palestinian issue to the sidelines”.
“This episode serves as a reminder that it seems quite unlikely that you'll get to a broader regional stability in the long run, if those issues are not addressed.”
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Smoke rises as displaced Palestinians take shelter at Al Shifa hospital. Reuters -
A Palestinian girl wounded in Israeli strikes waits for treatment at Al Shifa hospital, in Gaza city. Reuters -
Flames rage in a field near the border village of Burj Al-Mamluk, in southern Lebanon's Khiam plain, after an Israeli bombardment. AFP -
Smoke rises after air strikes during direct combat between the Israeli army and Hamas, near the beach road in Gaza city. EPA -
Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, looking for safety, camp on the grounds of Al Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP -
People search through buildings, destroyed during Israeli air strikes in Khan Younis, Gaza. Getty Images -
Israeli troops during operations in northern Gaza. AFP -
A photo taken from the Israeli side of the border with Gaza shows the continued Israeli bombardment of the northern Gaza Strip. AFP -
Palestinian men pray over the bodies of members of the Abu Taim family before burial in Khan Younis. AFP -
Israeli soldiers stand amid rubble during the ground invasion against Palestinian militant group Hamas, in the northern Gaza Strip. Reuters -
A woman and two children evacuated from Gaza walk on the tarmac at the Baza 90 air force base in Otopeni, Romania, after arriving from Egypt. AP -
Gazans inspect the Khaled bin Al-Walid Mosque, which was destroyed during Israeli air raids in Khan Younis. Getty Images -
Residents flee from Al Shatea refugee camp during combat between the Israeli army and Hamas in Gaza city. EPA -
An artillery unit moves near the border with Lebanon, in Tel Aviv, Israel. Getty Images -
Smoke rises during direct combat between the Israeli army and militants of the Ezz Al-Din Al Qassam militia, the military wing of the Hamas movement, at the beach road in west-centre Gaza City. EPA -
People search for survivors and bodies after a building was hit by Israeli bombing in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP -
A boy learns his father has been killed in an Israeli air strike at a hospital in Khan Younis. Reuters -
Israeli soldiers training in the upper Galilee region, near the border with Lebanon. AFP -
Destruction in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from Sderot in southern Israel. Reuters -
A girl looks on as bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes are laid out at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Reuters -
Mourners pray next to the bodies of members of the Daher family, who were killed by Israel strikes, at the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip. Reuters -
A satellite image shows the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. Reuters -
People search through the rubble of buildings destroyed during Israeli air raids in Khan Younis. Getty Images -
Smoke rises over the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from Sderot. Reuters -
An ambulance transporting injured Palestinians to Egyptian hospitals for treatment waits on the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing. Reuters -
Palestinian doctor Mohammad Abu Namoos, who chose to stay in Gaza to treat patients, says goodbye to his family before they leave. Reuters -
The funeral of three children and their grandmother killed in an Israeli air strike in Blida, Lebanon. EPA -
Palestinian children denouncing the killing of children in Gaza by waving banners and flags during a sit-in protest at the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut. AFP -
Men pray during a rally in support of Palestinians outside Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, New York. AFP -
A teddy bear symbolising hostages and missing children is placed on a bench in Tel Aviv, as people gather for a vigil to mark the one-month anniversary of the October 7 attack by Hamas militants on Israel. Reuters -
A survivor of the Nova Festival attack, May Hayat, takes cover as rocket sirens sound, during her first visit to the scene of the attack, near Re'im, Israel. Reuters -
Palestinians flee Gaza city to the southern Gaza Strip on Salah al-Din street in Bureij. AP -
A satellite picture showing the Rafah border crossing to Egypt. AFP -
People gather in Tel Aviv for a candlelit vigil to mark the one-month anniversary of the October 7 deadly attack by Hamas militants on Israel. Reuters -
Doris Liber, whose son Guy Iluz is being held hostage in Gaza, during a press conference with House Republicans at the Capitol in Washington. AP -
Palestinians flee to the southern Gaza Strip on Salah al-Din Street in Bureij. AP -
Mourners attend the funeral of four Palestinians killed by Israeli troops at Tulkarm refugee camp, in the occupied West Bank. EPA
