The Bottom Line

Israel has not explained what it seeks to accomplish in its war on Gaza beyond the destruction of Hamas, according to US General David Petraeus, the former director of the CIA and former commander of US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.Petraeus tells host Steve Clemons that the US has no choice but to remain a “steadfast ally” of Israel, lest China and other countries point to Washington’s abandonment of its friends.In this wide-ranging conversation, the former CENTCOM commander added that “there are no hands going up in the region” to volunteer to manage Gaza after the war.Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile@AljazeeraEnglish#Aljazeeraenglish#News

President Joe Biden's rigid pro-Israel stance would have been considered convention for United States policy 50 years ago."It's not a mainstream position any more," says Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East programme at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC.Alterman tells host Steve Clemons that Hamas's surprise attack on Israel, and Israel's continuing destruction of the Gaza Strip, will force major changes in the political leadership of Palestinians and Israelis.There will be no progress unless Israel makes way for a solution "that gives dignity and some sense of self-determination to the Palestinians," says Alterman.Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile@AljazeeraEnglish#Aljazeeraenglish#News

When the US Congress voted to censure the only Palestinian-American member of the House, congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, it argued that she was “promoting false narratives” on the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis.Journalists Ryan Grim and Katie Halper tell host Steve Clemons that if Congress cannot bear to hear different views on Palestine, it is a worrying sign for American society at large.Many Americans have been fired from their jobs for expressing their opinions, and pro-Palestinian student groups have been banned around the country.But the debate endures as Israel’s war on Gaza rages on.

In Afghanistan, United States General Stanley McChrystal referred to “insurgent math” to explain how every civilian killed by US forces led to 10 new insurgents.This is the same problem Israel is creating for itself by killing massive numbers of innocent Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to US Representative Seth Moulton, a Marine veteran who fought in Iraq.“I want Israel and Palestine to have peace,” Moulton tells host Steve Clemons. But for that to happen, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needs to put forth a political solution and “explain to the Palestinians what their future is”.Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile@AljazeeraEnglish#Aljazeeraenglish#News

Israeli-American peace activist Miko Peled has been advocating anti-Zionism for decades, arguing that Western governments who back Israel “are supporting the fight against justice, the fight against peace”.As US officials stress the need for a two-state solution, Peled tells host Steve Clemons that a serious peace between Palestinians and Israelis can only be achieved if all of them - followers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam - live as equals and share the country.The biggest problem facing the Palestinians, according to Peled, is that they are “political orphans” - they have no regional power defending their rights and aspirations.

While the United States government fully backs Israeli actions in its war on Gaza, other countries have taken a different approach.Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Israel’s actions have “gone beyond the scope of self-defence”. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pushed back against the Israeli and US classification of Hamas as a terrorist group, saying, “Hamas is not a terrorist group, it is a group of liberators who protect their land.”Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow Charles Kupchan tells host Steve Clemons that the US will have to get used to a world where Washington can’t always call the shots.Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile@AljazeeraEnglish#Aljazeeraenglish#News

Israel has killed more than 4,385 Palestinians, destroyed entire neighbourhoods in Gaza, and shut off food, water and electricity to millions of people after a Hamas attack killed more than 1,405 Israelis on October 7.United States President Joe Biden wants to give billions of dollars of additional aid to Israel to pursue its military campaign.The Biden administration is rejecting calls for a ceasefire, but mediating for small amounts of food aid for Gaza.Daniel Levy, a former adviser to the Israeli government, tells host Steve Clemons that US support for Israeli warmongering is “leading to hell”.Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile@AljazeeraEnglish#Aljazeeraenglish#News

Decades of misguided strategy have wreaked havoc on the region, even before Hamas’s recent attack on Israel and the Israeli response in Gaza, according to Harvard University Professor Stephen Walt.Global powers have allowed the status quo to fester. Washington still publicly calls for a two-state solution even though developments in the region have rendered this policy obsolete. Meanwhile, Israel believed it could keep a lid on Gaza indefinitely as it pursues its settlement policy in the West Bank.So what can we expect now? Join host Steve Clemons in this wide-ranging discussion with one of the top US political scientists.

Was it an historic blunder for Western leaders to keep expanding NATO eastward, even though they knew it would provoke a war with Russia eventually?Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs argues that the United States provoked the tragedy in Ukraine, and that the Biden administration should be working to resolve it, even if that means painful compromises – such as redrawing the map of Ukraine.Sachs tells host Steve Clemons that the war is becoming less and less popular throughout Europe and the US, which means that large-scale funding may soon dry up.Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribeFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglishFind us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeeraCheck our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish/Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile@AljazeeraEnglish#Aljazeeraenglish#News

Will the Republican-led impeachment inquiry succeed in painting United States President Joe Biden as “crooked"? Will it backfire and be judged as a colossal waste of time? Can Biden’s attempt to paint the 2024 election as a “fight for democracy” work again? How much will Biden’s age affect his chances of winning? Will the economy play into the hands of Biden or his chief opponent, former President Donald Trump?On this episode, host Steve Clemons asks pollsters Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, and Micah Roberts of Public Opinion Strategies, to weigh in on the main drivers of US public opinion.