There was almost no candle space on the cake with which Joe Biden celebrated his 81st birthday on Monday.
The photograph released by the White House, with the president of the United States blowing in front of that “fire”, led to another round of mockery on the networks instead of congratulations.
On the way to the presidential elections in November 2024, the question of his age has become a very well orchestrated and tuned electoral mantra by the far-right and Trumpist media, which hides the fact that Donald Trump is approaching 78. The debate It has even made its way into the press considered to be of quality, while unflattering polls for re-election come to light.
In this climate of unrest that affects the morale of the Democrats, the Government tried to capitalize this Wednesday on the four-day ceasefire for the exchange of hostages in the war between Israel and Hamas, among which are Americans, as an achievement of Washington diplomacy.
Despite being far from a total victory, since there will still be around 200 retained, this partial success was claimed by official sources as the gift of a president who, regardless of the noise, shows once again his lucidity and his ability to achieve results. both inside and outside the country, without falling into confrontational rhetoric.
“My security team and I have worked with regional partners to make possible the release of our compatriots,” Biden said in a statement. “This deal will bring home more American hostages, and I won't stop until they are all freed,” he vowed.
This result reflects, according to analysts, the enormous pressure from the Biden Administration to reach an agreement on the release of those kidnapped by the terrorist group and, at the same time, establish a potential opportunity for the cessation of hostilities, reduce tension and move forward. in a solution.
This pressure is also motivated by the fact that the Democratic Party faces a division among its members as a result of this war that began on October 7 with the attack by Hamas against Israel.
In their ranks, those who maintain a position in favor of Israel, who understand the retaliation launched in Gaza, clash with the supporters of Palestine, who condemn this disproportionate revenge and reproach Biden for supporting Prime Minister Beniamin Netanyahu.
The approval of this pact by the Government of Israel thus represents a respite for the US Government and for Biden specifically, they noted.
This situation was reached after “a secret cell” of collaborators of the US president, based on the name given by The New York Times, has been working these weeks together with the partners of Qatar and Egypt to convince Israel to accept a cessation of hostilities.
This agreement is also observed, from the US, as a demonstration that there are gaps between the White House and Netanyahu's Executive regarding the response. The prime minister had until now rejected any suggestion of stopping military operations in Gaza, as insisted by Biden, who always used the expression humanitarian pause instead of ceasefire.
American sources indicated that Biden had finally managed to convince Netanyahu and get him to accept that it was better to apply suspensions of actions over entire days and not in periods of a few hours. These stoppages of just a few hours will require tying those hiatuses to a brief window to release hostages held in tunnels used by Hamas fighters.
Biden raised the urgency of the situation during the thirteen phone calls they have had since this crisis began 47 days ago and in the face-to-face meeting they had on Israeli soil.
Faced with pressure from within his own ranks, this is Biden's first victory in this crisis. The president showed absolute caution during these negotiations. Hours before the agreement was announced, he reiterated that there were good feelings, but clarified that "you cannot take something for granted until it is done", an example of the uncertainty of his relationship with the top Israeli leader.
During the long journey, Biden insisted, in an opinion that he published in The Washington Post, that “our goal is not to stop the war today, but rather it must be to end it forever.”
