Colonel Kemp condemns Biden over forcing Israel to stop short on Hamas campaign
The veteran has criticised the president's approach to the conflict
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A former British army officer has criticised President Biden's response to the conflict in the Middle East as a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas enters its fifth day.
Colonel Richard Kemp said that President Biden is "no friend of Israel".
Writing in The Telegraph, the colonel said that Biden's response to the crisis will define the next Election in 2024.
He accused the president of "playing right into the hands of Hamas and its supporters around the world."
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He said: "His constant appeasement of Tehran and blatant distancing from Jerusalem...have only weakened the Israeli government’s hand in fighting terrorism.
"His dispatch of two carrier strike groups to the region to deter Iran was recognition that these blunders had brought the Middle East towards a much wider conflict.
"It was also an effort to restrain Israel from taking the law into its own hands against Iran and its proxies by trying to give the impression that the US was ready to do the dirty work if needed. Some hope of that!"
The President has also come under fire from pro-Palestine protesters in the US for initially refusing to call for a ceasefire in the region.
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Colonel Richard Kemp has criticised the president
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Colonel Kemp added: "After his visit to Jerusalem at the start of the war, Biden said: 'My administration’s support for Israel’s security is rock solid and unwavering'.
"It wasn’t long before his actions proved his duplicitousness.
"While saying publicly that Hamas had to be defeated, he began coercing Israel behind the scenes to stop short of achieving that goal."
He added that 'strategic outcome' in the Middle East needed to take priority over the upcoming 2024 US Election.
President Biden has also come under fire from pro-Palestine protesters
PA
Earlier this week, President Biden thanked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as Qatar and Egypt for facilitating indirect talks between the two sides.
The President also urged Benjamin Netanyahu to extend Israel’s ceasefire with Hamas.
It comes as 17 hostages including a "very sick" elderly woman and an orphaned four-year-old were released.
The temporary truce between Israel and Hamas has entered a two-day extension.