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Biden and the Democrats Are About to Abandon Israel
We knew weeks ago that Biden’s support of Israel, no matter how resolute it sounded, was not on solid ground. He is being battered by his staff, the overall Administration, and now Congress, trying to get him to tie the hands of the Israelis in their efforts to defeat Hamas. Naturally, everyone couches their recommendations in “humanitarian concerns”; I think, instead that all these protests are determined to ensure that Israel loses the war.
Let’s review the strong words that Biden used at the beginning:
‘The United States unequivocally condemns this appalling assault against Israel by Hamas terrorists from Gaza, and I made clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu that we stand ready to offer all appropriate means of support to the Government and people of Israel.
‘Terrorism is never justified. Israel has a right to defend itself and its people… My Administration’s support for Israel’s security is rock solid and unwavering.’
Didn’t he sound resolute and impressive?
Yet since those days, the Biden Administration has continued to exert pressure on Israel. They are less concerned with Israel’s determination to defend its people. They insist that Israel should agree to more “pauses” to meet Hamas’ requirements for releasing hostages; Hamas will certainly use that time to rearm and re-stock and continue to demand that incarcerated Palestinians be released by the Israelis.
Biden has made clear that he wants this war finished:
‘My expectation and hope is that as we move forward, the rest of the Arab world and the region is also putting pressure on all sides to slow this down, to bring this to an end as quickly as we can,’ Biden said.
Translated: they need to get this war over before the US elections, if not sooner.
I learned from my research that the U.S. has been less than helpful in past years in supporting Israel:
Israeli commanders certainly understood the fickleness of Washington’s declared support for their military offensive from the start, as Washington has an undistinguished record of abandoning its Israeli ally in times of peril.
During the IDF’s military incursions in Gaza in 2009 and 2014, for example, the Israelis were forced to stop fighting within three weeks, with ceasefires brokered on both occasions by Egypt and forced on Israel by Washington.
Indeed, Washington’s willingness to impose ceasefires on Israel when its forces have clearly established a military advantage on the battlefield against their enemies has been a constant feature throughout Israel’s 75-year existence.
I can’t help but ask, just which side is Biden really supporting?
In spite of the evidence that Hamas uses hospitals as screens to protect its military, and its unwillingness to allow Palestinians in the hospitals to leave, Biden made this comment:
‘My hope and expectation is that there will be less intrusive action relative to hospitals,’ Biden told reporters.
Then USaid had to get into the act, demanding actions by Israel:
The Usaid administrator, Samantha Power, stiffened the rhetoric further on Tuesday, saying: ‘Israel’s restoration of communications, electricity, water lines, and fuel to Gaza is imperative.
‘And even as Israel defends its people, it is imperative that the IDF adhere to international humanitarian law,’ Power told a meeting of an advisory board created to fund Israeli-Palestinian partnerships.
Power has no authority to demand anything from Israel; and Israel is already complying with international law, as I’ve said repeatedly.
Here’s another explanation by an administration official that Biden screwed up in his initial support of Israel, causing his handlers to step in:
‘With time, it became increasingly clear that Biden himself was the sole driver of that initial zero-sum approach and it took weeks of concerted high-level effort – from state, Usaid, the intelligence community and even part of the national security council itself – to turn things around and shape a more holistic, strategic approach that prioritised support to Israel alongside a far greater emphasis on civilian protection, humanitarian access, and commitment to international humanitarian law and the laws of war.’
* * * *
As if the Biden administration’s words and actions aren’t dangerous enough, our U.S. Senate has also decided to tell Israel how to run the war. They also demand compliance with international law, which Israel is already doing and which several people criticizing them ignore. Now the Senate is telling the Israelis they are killing too many people:
The stipulation is said to be merely that Israel follow international law. But since Israel does follow international law, and the U.S. already can withhold foreign assistance on human-rights grounds, the condition is unnecessary—but not harmless. During wartime, it would signal to Israel’s enemies that the U.S. has gone wobbly on the campaign to destroy Hamas.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.), chairman of the Foreign Relations subcommittee on the Middle East, made positive noises about the idea Sunday. ‘We regularly condition our aid to allies based upon compliance with U.S. law and international law,’ he said, adding, ‘I think that you can defeat Hamas without this level of civilian casualty,’ which he calls “unacceptable.’
Bernie Sanders was happy to jump on the bandwagon.
I cannot believe that these Senators, most of whom know nothing about warfare, never mind the type of war that is happening in Israel, are telling them they are certain that the Israelis can kill fewer people. And if they don’t shape up, U.S. aid will be in jeopardy. It’s clear to me that the Democrats have no idea how far they are out of their wheelhouse, that they are in agreement with Biden setting up the Israelis to lose this war, and that they want Hamas to be victorious. This approach to this war is a travesty. The WSJ posed the following question:
Published in GeneralThe purpose is to warn Israel that it will risk losing U.S. support if it tries to complete its mission of toppling Hamas; and that Hamas-induced civilian casualties mean Israel can’t destroy Hamas’s terrorist capabilities. Is that the emerging position of the Democratic Party?
Sad, regrettable, tragic prediction: they won’t be.
How I fervently wish I will be proven wrong.
PS: if they are not resolute this time, after what those animals did to their citizens (and ours) on Oct 7, we will never see resolution from them again. Period. Full stop.
I am just about out of words (which are acceptable in polite company) to express what I think of Biden and the team of, as someone posted a while ago, “men without chests”, as CS Lewis would refer to people like Blinken and Sullivan, but I could not agree more with your phrase as he has always been a nasty, corrupt, crooked, mean-sprited, egomaniacal self-absorbed fool and now he is still all of that with a heavy layer of dementia over all those unpleasant “qualities.” He, with his close friend, the “Lion of the Senate”, Kennedy, tried everything he could do to destroy one of the finest Justices our Supreme Court has ever had in its history. Not just defeat his nomination but totally destroy the person himself. That’s what he has always been. How much more do you need to know about a person after you know he took showers with his daughter?
You are too kind, Jim. I watched that B*****d perform in the Bork and Thomas hearings. He is despicable.
I think that in this case we are looking at an existential threat. If Hamas isn’t destroyed finally and irrevocably they will be back and likely a lot worse. I listen to Haviv Retig Gur on Dan Senor’s podcast, Call me Back. I think he is a pretty good indicator of what is going on and what is being said in Israel. If he is, and if he is right, what Biden does or doesn’t do is not going to change the course of this struggle. Bebe has nothing to lose anymore. He is likely doomed politically after the failures of 10/7, so the question becomes, what does he want his legacy to show? My guess is demolishing Hamas would be a fine coda for his years in power.
But does Israel produce enough of their own ammunition etc to do it without outside support/supplies from the US?
Catch 22.
I’ve been listening to Gur and Senor, too, and I wait anxiously for the podcast to be posted every week. It’s an excellent discussion and I also think Gur has an intelligent and in-depth perspective on the war. I’m glad we agree!
I’ve been pondering Israel’s dependence on the U.S. Don’t other countries manufacture ammunition? If they do, do you think they’d be willing to supply Israel? I doubt others could help out with the Iron Dome, however.
Always!
Jim, true story: I watched as much of the Thomas hearings as I could, as work would permit, which was not much. However, My Lady watched every single minute of the Bork hearings and while she is usually the quintessenial Southern Lady, her views of that b*****d go back to that time. Fast forward to years later, we were lucky enough to be seated next to Justice Scalia and Mrs. Scalia at an American Inns of Court function in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court. To say that it was an amazing night would be a vast understatement, largely because it turned out Justice Scalia, may he rest in peace, was a very close friend of Robert Bork and when he found out early in the evening she had watched the hearings in their entirety he talked to her the entire evening, to the exclusion of some real VIPs around the table! For years, she had his place card taped to the fridge door! Amazing experience!
BTW (for what little it’s worth), in spite of Congress demanding “accountability” from Israel, Biden says he won’t withhold aid. Then he turns around and has warned Israel not to approach southern Gaza the way it approached northern Gaza. Whatever the heck that means!
So this may warrant a different post, but I’ve been mulling how I think things will turn out in the short-term. Naturally I feel compelled to be optimistic. I have to believe that Israel will sufficiently destroy Hamas (they’ll never find all of them) to give themselves some security. To have that kind of success, they will keep listening to Biden and simply do what they have to do. At some point they may refuse to stop the “pauses”; Hamas has already admitted that they don’t know where all the hostages are, since other radical groups have them. And Israel also doesn’t know how many are alive. I think this next two-day extension to the pause will be approved to get more hostages, but I suspect something will trigger Israel very soon and they will go all out. Hamas can’t keep dragging this war out. Then it will get really ugly.
What do others think? Ultimately Israel must come out on top!
I am so jealous! That is awesome! ;-)
Susan, I only wish that I could have a video of that conversation– My Lady has a photographic memory and recall and Justice Scalia could not get enough as he of course was working and unable to watch all of the hearings in which his close friend was being eviscerated and humiliated by lower orders of “humanity” and true scum like Biden. To say it was a night to remember is to put it as mildly as possible. When Justice Scalia died it really hit us hard as we had had the opportunity, not once but twice, to be with him on a personal level. To this day, I have the National Review issue with its cover “A Justice In Full” next to my desk where it has remained since it was published. In this home, there is no limit to the special respect we accord both Justice Scalia and Justice Thomas, not only due to ideology but also because we were so blessed with the opportunity to get to know both of them in social settings. It is not easy for us to listen to bottom feeders like Harry Reid, for example, pronounce opinions on how poor Justice Thomas’ opinions are as if he has one-tenth (being most generous– more like >00000001%) of the vast intellectual power Justice Thomas has and has demonstrated.
Antonin Scalia — A Justice in Full
May he rest in peace.
Biden is a non factor. The bus is being driven by all the Obama admin people in power. This was Obamas 3rd term.
And they all hate Israel and love Iran.