Strained US-Israeli relations

The fraying US-Israeli alliance [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up [here](. Five months into Israel’s war on Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden have gone from coordinating policy in nearly daily private chats to hurling accusations at one another in public as the alliance crucial to both comes under intense strain. “He is hurting Israel more than helping Israel,” Biden said in some of his harshest [criticism of the Israeli leader](, days after suggesting the two of them need to have a “come to Jesus” meeting. Netanyahu hit back, saying the president is wrong and insisted the majority of Israelis support the military campaign. The tension stems from the number of casualties and risk of starvation and illness in Gaza caused by the Israeli operation, producing devastation and global demands for a cease-fire. Children have died of hunger; their parents are eating leaves and animal feed. Biden’s calls for restraint in Gaza come at a time when he’s facing fierce criticism from members of his own Democratic Party in an election year for his military backing of Israel following [Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks](. Netanyahu’s war cabinet unity is also fraying over the influence of his far-right political partners. And as reservists return to civilian life, anti-government demonstrations demanding early elections are growing.  Biden had hoped for a [six-week cease-fire]( by this week as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins, a time marked by heightened tensions with Israel. But talks with Hamas, considered terrorists by the US and European Union, faltered over the Islamist group’s demands for a complete, not temporary, end to the fighting. Netanyahu insists that, pause or no pause, Israel will eventually carry out an attack on the southern city of Rafah, where it believes Hamas leaders, thousands of its troops and the 100 remaining Israeli hostages are located. Such a move would threaten the million civilians sheltering there, Biden said, calling it a red line. Netanyahu said he too has a red line — a repeat of Oct. 7. — [Ethan Bronner]( A Palestinian woman walks through the rubble of destroyed buildings in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Friday. Photographer: Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg Global Must Reads Ukraine pushed back at Pope Francis’s weekend call to show “the courage of the white flag” and [enter negotiations]( with Russia, a remark that fueled outrage in the country and condemnation from some allies. “Our flag is a yellow and blue one,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on X, formerly Twitter. “We shall never raise any other flags.” He invited the pontiff to visit Ukraine. China’s legislature voted to tighten the Communist Party’s grip on the cabinet. Delegates to the annual National People’s Congress today approved the changes to the State Council Organic Law, underscoring President Xi Jinping’s drive to [give the party control]( over all the main levers of government. Another vote, another lurch to the right in Europe. Portugal became the latest nation to experience the trend, as the Chega party [quadrupled its seats]( in parliament in an early election. Chega, which translates as “Enough” and is led by 41-year-old Andre Ventura, a former television football commentator, may become kingmaker to the first placed center-right, since together they command an outright majority of seats. Ventura at an election night event yesterday in Lisbon. Photographer: Andreas Dias Nobre/AFP/Getty Images The Philippines is counting on the US and its allies to play a key role in its plans to explore energy resources [in the disputed South China Sea](, Manila’s envoy to Washington, Jose Manuel Romualdez, said in an interview. The Philippines is exploring several options in its quest to tap the resource-rich South China Sea, waters that China claims almost in its entirety. The US military evacuated staff and added security at the American embassy in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, as the Caribbean nation is [rocked by violent political unrest](. The situation has deteriorated in recent days with gangs setting the Interior Ministry ablaze over the weekend and attacked police stations and government offices. Support for South Africa’s ruling African National Congress has fallen below 40% less than three months before [the country holds elections](, a poll showed. The French government will present a bill this year that will allow adults stricken with incurable diseases [to take their own lives](, President Emmanuel Macron said. Polish President Andrzej Duda will propose that NATO member states raise the minimum [level of defense spending]( to 3% of economic output when he and Prime Minister Donald Tusk meet with Biden tomorrow. Washington Dispatch Biden this week continues in what amounts to a dual role: president and presidential candidate. While incumbent leaders everywhere play these parts interchangeably — sometimes with the lines blurred — the brevity of the US primary contest has turned the ignition on the general election months earlier than usual. Over the weekend, Biden and the all-but-certain Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, [rallied supporters in Georgia](, a swing state that Biden won in 2020, Trump in 2016. Today, Biden plans to speak to the National League of Cities before traveling to New Hampshire, which has been won by Democrats in every presidential election from 2004 onward, though sometimes by a narrow margin. Tomorrow, the president meets with leaders and members of the Teamsters union, which has yet to endorse a candidate in the 2024 election. Later in the week, Biden will visit the battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan. One thing to watch:  The New York Fed’s monthly survey of consumer expectations will be released. [Sign up for the Washington Edition newsletter]( for more from the US capital and watch Balance of Power at 5pm ET weekdays on Bloomberg Television. Chart of the Day Hopes that the UK economy will bounce back strongly from recession took a hit as job vacancies in England [fell to their lowest]( in more than three years. The development indicates a difficult backdrop for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government to wage its campaign for reelection in a vote due by January. And Finally South Korean trainee doctors, who play key roles in providing emergency care and surgeries, walked off the job more than three weeks ago [to protest a plan]( to increase enrollment at medical schools. As the labor action drags on, people seeking health care have been putting off procedures, trying telemedicine and going to local clinics instead of emergency rooms. Demonstrators in Seoul on March 3. Photographer: Jean Chung/Bloomberg Thanks to the 45 readers who answered our quiz on Friday and congratulations to Thomas Hawley, who was the first to name Haiti as the country which declared a state of emergency after armed gangs raided two prisons and violence gripped the capital. More from Bloomberg - Check out our [Bloomberg Investigates]( film series about untold stories and unraveled mysteries - [Bloomberg Opinion]( for a roundup of our most vital opinions on business, politics, economics, tech and more - [Next Africa](, a twice-weekly newsletter on where the continent stands now — and where it’s headed - [Economics Daily]( for what the changing landscape means for policy makers, investors and you - [Green Daily]( for the latest in climate news, zero-emission tech and green finance - Explore more newsletters at [Bloomberg.com](. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? 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