Biden abandons Israel – Washington Examiner
When Hamas launched its Oct. 7, 2023, rape, kidnap, and murder killing spree against Israeli civilians, President Joe Biden quickly traveled to Israel and pledged that America would have its longtime ally’s back. Since then, he has repeatedly affirmed his “ironclad” commitment to the security of the Jewish state.
But the “ironclad” pledge should concern Baltic states as they face Vladimir Putin’s invasion threats. It should also concern the Philippines as it faces Chinese efforts to carve out an exclusive economic zone. And it should concern Japan as it faces Chinese and Russian affronts to its territorial sovereignty. Because Biden’s support for Israel is molten rather than ironclad.
This Monday, national security spokesman John Kirby refused to say whether the U.S. suspended an agreed arms shipment to Israel and also refused to offer American support for Israel’s effort to eliminate Hamas’s last bastion in Rafah.
Fearful of left-wing protesters, the Biden administration has intensified pressure on Israel to agree to a ceasefire leaving Hamas in place. Understandably, Israel refuses any ceasefire that amounts to such a defeat. Hamas has at least four brigades of approximately 8,000 terrorists in Rafah, and allowing them to stay would pose extreme danger to Israelis and would signal unmistakable weakness to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It is a disgrace for Washington even to suggest that killers responsible for the evil of Oct. 7 should be allowed to stay and plot a repeat.
America’s global credibility is collapsing into the abyss between Biden’s rhetoric and reality. His equivocation and fecklessness in slithering away for electoral reasons from support of a staunch and indispensable ally promotes terrorism, gives succor to our enemies, and cannot but alarm our allies.
By opposing Israeli action in Rafah and withholding military aid, Biden is putting Hamas’s interest in the survival of its military capabilities before Israel’s interest in securing its people. Friends and enemies will take note.
This doesn’t mean American diplomatic and military support for Israel should be endless. A sustained Israeli occupation of either Rafah or Gaza is impractical and will feed grievances that do long-term damage to both Israeli and U.S. security interests. Aid deliveries into Gaza, though often stolen by Hamas, are necessary and until recently have been inadequate. That aid flow reinforces the truth of this conflict that Israel has, and must retain, actual and visible moral supremacy over Hamas.
It is also appropriate for the U.S. to make demands in exchange for its support of Israel, such as that neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor any subsequent Israeli leader ever again share high-tech knowledge, software, and hardware with China, bolstering the People’s Liberation Army. China has betrayed Netanyahu’s support, but acquired technology transfers that will potentially cost American lives in a future U.S.-China war.
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But these are reasons for tough demands, not for the betrayal of our core regional ally in its hour of need. Victory over Hamas is necessary for Israel’s security and the restoration of its effective deterrence in the Middle East. Present chaos aside, the Abraham Accords and moves toward a Saudi-Israeli normalization agreement indicate the broadly shared interest of a more peaceful, prosperous future that moves beyond today’s hatreds and ideological fanaticism.
This better future will be impossible, however, if Hamas and other such groups are allowed to shape U.S. policy. Biden should stand with our ally, not with the terrorists who so brutally attacked it.
