Biden Is Deserting Israel

Biden Is Deserting Israel

© David Burton 2024

Only Israel Can Decide
 


     U.S. President Joe Biden and other top officials in his administration have given up all pretenses of being unconditional supporters of Israel. Instead, they have taken to criticizing the Jewish nation, blaming it for the ongoing war in Gaza, while absolving Hamas for its brutal and uncalled for attack on Israel. They blame Israel for the ongoing death and destruction in Gaza instead of demanding the surrender of Hamas and the release of more than 100 hostages Still held by Hamas that would immediately end the needless destruction, death and suffering of innocent civilians in Gaza.

     On Sunday, 3 March 2024, U.S. vice president, Kamala Harris, blasted Israel for providing too little aid to Gazans while also telling Hamas to accept the latest ceasefire deal.
     Speaking at an event in Selma, Alabama, Harris said that Israel had to do more to alleviate the “immense scale of suffering” of those caught in the war between the Jewish state and the terrorist organization bent on its destruction. This is called by many “blaming the victim”. In this case, the real victim is Israel which was the party attacked and the country from which the hostages were kidnapped.
     “The Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid. No excuses,” she said. “They must not impose any unnecessary restrictions on the delivery of aid,” and “must open new border crossings.” Curiously, the vice president didn’t call on Hamas to surrender and release the hostages which would immediately attain the goals which she was demanding.
     With respect to aid for the residents of Gaza, Israel had set up humanitarian corridors in Gaza and was guarding them as best it could from Hamas fighters who were trying to attack them. The IDF categorically denied targeting any humanitarian aid sites.
     In addressing the ceasefire issue, Harris combined mention of Hamas holding “dozens” of “innocent men and women, including American citizens” for “nearly 150 days,” with the suffering of Gazans in the war.
     Israel was demanding a list of names and details of those still alive before negotiating more with the terror organization, but Hamas had refused to comply.
     Harris did back at least one of Israel’s guiding principles of the war following Hamas’ October 7 invasion, massacre of 1,200 people and abduction of a further 253 from Israeli communities. “The threat Hamas poses to the people of Israel must be eliminated,” she said.[1]

     Immediately after the dastardly October 7, 2023 surprise attack from Gaza, Israel repeatedly and consistently stated that it would not stop its response until all the more-than 200 hostages kidnapped by Hamas were returned and Hamas control of Gaza was permanently ended. Israel has not deviated from this position.

     President Biden and the current administration initially supported the Israel position. But over time, Biden and other top officials in the U. S. government began to change their position, bringing it more into line with the demands of other nations and domestic anti-semites and Israel-haters that were vociferously demanding that Israel immediately institute a ceasefire while at the same time blaming Israel for the suffering of the people of Gaza.

     What was no longer being mentioned were the facts that, 1) it was Hamas that started the war with Israel and, 2) that it was Hamas that was prolonging the fighting by, a) not releasing the hostages it had taken and, b) not surrendering. Not only was Hamas not releasing the hostages taken on Oct. 7, it was refusing to even release the names of the hostages it still held.

     It was reported on 3 March 2024 that Hamas was refusing to hand over the names of living hostages thereby stalling talks for a ceasefire. Meanwhile the U.S. and others were continuing to blame Israel for its failure to institute a ceasefire.
     Israel has demanded to know how many of the roughly 130 hostages that remain in Gaza are still alive as a condition of returning to the negotiating table.
     A delegation of Israeli negotiators that was due to arrive in Cairo, Egypt the first weekend in March 2024 to meet with representatives from the US and Qatar was withdrawn after Hamas refused to meet the Israeli condition, according to Israeli news website Ynet.
     Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said that, without the list, talk of a deal was premature. “We demand to know the names of all prisoners who will be part of the potential deal in advance,” he said at an earlier news conference.
     He also emphasized that Israel “will not cease the war against Hamas,” suggesting that a ceasefire would be only a temporary measure.[2] Israel has consistently and rightly maintained that it would not stop until Hamas was permanently removed as a threat to that nation and its people. Still, instead of blaming Hamas and pressuring Hamas for a ceasefire, the Biden administration is blaming Israel and pressuring it to give in to terrorists’ demands.

     As time passed, President Joe Biden continued to lessen his support of Israel. In early March, he ramped up his administration’s political pressure on Israel’s government to allow in more humanitarian aid and rein in its offensive in the Gaza Strip before the defeat of the Hamas terrorists that initiated the fighting that has escalated into Israel’s full-blown efforts to destroy Hamas. So far, Biden has stopped short of cutting off weapons deliveries to America’s main ally in the Middle East, current and former officials say.
     While reluctant to enter into a full-blown confrontation with Israel, the Biden administration instead has air dropped humanitarian aid for "Palestinian" civilians and held talks in Washington with a political rival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Benny Gantz. As evidence of his backing away from previous unconditional support of Israel, Biden and his team have stepped up public criticism of Israel’s tactics in Gaza — though, as NBC News has reported, apparently not as much Vice President Kamala Harris would like.
     Based on advice from the Pentagon, the president ordered air drops of aid. U.S. aircraft, during the first weekend in March, began dropping pallets of food and other supplies on parachutes just off Gaza’s coast. On the first Tuesday in the month, three U.S. Air Force planes dropped 60 bundles with 36,000 meals, accompanied by four Jordanian planes that dropped additional supplies. More deliveries were expected. The air drops over Gaza were unusual, with the U.S. launching the operation to assist civilians affected by a military offensive carried out by an ally armed by Washington.
     Vice President Harris delivered blunt criticism of Israel on Sunday, marking the latest in a series of criticisms of Israel from the White House. NBC News reported that the original draft of her speech contained much harsher language before it was softened by the White House National Security Council. Yet her public condemnation of Israel was still notable.[3]

     It would seem the Biden and his people are now more concerned with the status of the residents of Gaza than with the security and safety of citizens of Israel. The president has apparently lost sight of just who attacked whom, who are the victims and who are the perpetrators, who are the not-so-innocent facilitators of the aggression that has resulted in the the current ongoing fighting, and who is refusing to put an end to the fighting in order to obtain sympathy and support from the gullible bleedings hearts of the world!

     Israeli officials say they remain grateful for the support of U.S. officials as they continue to try to destroy Hamas. Privately some of them have said they are worried by the criticism from the Biden administration. “The Americans are not being very nice to us,” a senior Israeli government official said. Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu in his public statements has been adamant that he is not taking orders from outside of Israel on how to continue the war.
     At the beginning of March, The State Department said that the U.S. continues to supply weapons to Israel because the Hamas leaders behind the Oct. 7 terror attacks, the worst in Israel’s history, are still at large. “They would relaunch the attacks of October 7, today, tomorrow if they had the capability to do so,” Matthew Miller, the State Department spokesperson, told reporters. “So we support Israel’s legitimate military campaign consistent with international humanitarian law.”[3]

     Is Clueless Biden Getting Closer to Abandoning Israel? People in the Biden administration have had meetings with activists regarding the administration's handling of the Israel-Hamas war. Such meetings have even been with terrorists. The activists have been demanding a ceasefire, despite the fact that such a step primarily helps Hamas. Further, it was Hamas that broke the ceasefire that had been in place before the October 7 attack, and again more recently when there had been a temporary pause last November.
     Israel is America’s ally in the Middle East, and the Israel-Hamas conflict is one of just several international crises that have taken place during Biden's time in office. “Opponents” of Israel have been applying pressure on President Biden to harden the U.S. stance on its war with Hamas. It looks like the leftist pressures have been working. The call for Israeli assurances that it would declare an extended ceasefire and greatly increase the humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza are now a requirement under a memorandum issued earlier by President Biden. This new policy came after some Democratic senators expressed concern over the Israeli military campaign in Gaza. If the assurances weren't provided, U.S. weapon transfers to the country would be paused. [4]

     It is totally unclear if Biden and his team have been consistently applying similar pressures on Hamas. If they have, the results have certainly been disappointing. Hamas has shown no inclination to back down from any of its past aggression.

     Rising Democratic pressure on the Biden administration to distance itself from Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza may be yielding results, with the White House asking the State Department and the Pentagon for a list of all weapons the US is planning to send the Jewish state, according to a new report. Amid growing calls from US President Joe Biden’s own party to reexamine US support for Israel since Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre, the White House is seeking a full accounting of Washington’s military assistance to Jerusalem.
     In early March of 2024, there was growing criticism of Israel in Biden’s party over how Israel was waging war against Hamas — particularly due to the civilian death toll in Gaza — and pressure on Biden for the Democratic party’s support for the military campaign.
     Israeli officials have repeatedly said that they were taking extraordinary precautions to try to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza, where Hamas terrorists hide among the civilian population, using them as human shields and placing command centers in facilities such as hospitals. Based on Israeli and US estimates, Israel’s civilian-to-combatant casualty ratio during the current war has been about 2 to 1, compared to the average in urban warfare of 9 to 1 according to the United Nations.
     Far left lawmakers in president Biden’s party were calling for a ceasefire since the beginning of the war. Israel has argued that a ceasefire without the release of its hostages in Gaza would allow Hamas to strengthen its position.[5]

     It was reported that President Joe Biden was considering banning the use of U.S. arms in a potential Israeli invasion of Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip which was the last stronghold for the Hamas terror group. Such a move would seriously cripple Israel’s military activity, as Israeli officials have stressed that an offensive in Rafah is necessary for a decisive victory over Hamas.
     The report stated that, “Behind the growing tension with Netanyahu [was] Biden’s feeling that Israel [hadn’t] been listening to U.S. warnings and advice, and that the U.S.-Israeli relationship [had] been a one-way street.”
     “The administration feels it supports Israeli interests, at considerable political cost at home and abroad, while Netanyahu isn’t responsive to American requests. Israel argues that any space between U.S. and Israeli policy only benefits Hamas. But Israel doesn’t make compromises to narrow that gap.”[6]

     When Israeli War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz met with Biden Administration officials in Washington in early March 2024, he explained why operating in Rafah in southern Gaza was crucial to Israel winning the war.
     Gantz told National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan that “ending the war without clearing out Rafah is like sending a firefighter to extinguish 80% of the fire.”
     The Biden Administration had urged Israel not to operate in Rafah because 1.2 million civilians were located there. The IDF had presented the Israeli War Cabinet with a full plan for the Rafah operation, including the orderly evacuation of Palestinian civilians. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu had called Rafah “the last bastion” of Hamas and emphasized that clearing Rafah of Hamas was crucial to winning the war. At a press conference in Jerusalem in mid-February, Netanyahu said, “Those who want to prevent us from operating in Rafah are essentially telling us: ‘Lose the war.’ ”[7]

     President Joe Biden’s public blame of Israel for challenges in distributing humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip were strengthening the Hamas terror group, according to an opinion piece by the Wall Street Journal‘s editorial board published on 3 March 2024.
     The essay noted that in October 2023, Biden threatened to cut off humanitarian assistance to the Strip, should Hamas seize the aid meant for civilians in the coastal enclave.
     “Let me be clear: If Hamas diverts or steals the assistance, they will have demonstrated once again that they have no concern for the welfare of the Palestinian people, and it will end,” Biden said at the time.
     But despite extensive evidence that Hamas has indeed commandeered aid meant for civilians in Gaza, Biden did not keep his promise.
     Instead, Biden has blamed Israel for various issues associated with the distribution of the aid in the Strip, thus furthering Hamas’ narrative, the essay said.
     More recently, Biden was quoted as saying, “We’re going to insist that Israel facilitate more trucks and more routes to get more and more people the help they need. No excuses.”
     There was no similar warning to Hamas. As a consequence, Biden’s statement “plays into Hamas’s strategy: Place civilians in maximum danger and trust the international community to set up Israel to take the blame.”
     The essay asserted that Biden’s flip-flopping on the aid issue stems from a fear of losing Democrat voters in the upcoming presidential election later this year. “Fearing his party’s left flank, Mr. Biden blames Israel and says aid must increase, no matter how much Hamas steals. Gazans need aid, and they also need the world to stop playing Hamas’s game,” the article noted.[8]

     Biden’s State of the Union address on 5 March 2024, strangely enough, was the point at which the Biden administration decided to roll out its public anti-Israel campaign, beginning with when was Biden caught on a hot mic saying he told Israeli PM Netanyahu they needed to have a “come-to-Jesus meeting”.
     There had been a drumbeat of leaks and anonymous statements in the weeks leading up to it, but then Biden has gone on record that . . .

     1. He was opposed to Israel’s government,
     2. He wanted a ceasefire,
     3. He was preparing to stop the resupply of weapons to Israel.


     Some of these revelations came in an MSNBC interview. It was no coincidence that this was prepped for an interview with the most leftward cable channel and the one that was the most opposed to Israel.
     Biden told MSNBC that he wanted a “6-week ceasefire” and that Israel going into Rafah to finish off Hamas would be a “red line”.
     He criticized Netanyahu and claimed that he was hurting Israel by continuing to fight Hamas.
     Biden defended his pro-Hamas Arab Muslim primary campaigners in Michigan.
     He also appeared to suggest that he might pull badly-needed weapons and munitions from Israel’s resupply package.
     Biden blamed Israel for the carnage in Gaza, saying that, “There are other ways to . . . deal with the trauma caused by Hamas.”

     Like what???
     Kiss and make up???
     Make believe October 7th never happened???


     After this things are only going to get worse. The Israeli government erred by thinking that if it did everything possible to meet the demands of Biden and his lackies, it would be allowed to fight the terrorists. That was a mistake.
     Instead of finishing as quickly as possible, Israel hoped that if it took time and focused on avoiding civilian casualties and harm, it would retain the support of the White House. That has proved to be a false hope.
     Meeting unrealistic Biden demands will not work. He’s too unrealistic and under too much domestic political pressure. The time to finish the job in Gaza is now. There will be no later.[9]
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References:

  1. U.S. VP blasts Israel on limiting aid to Gaza, says ‘no excuses’ are acceptable, Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News,
    4 March 2024.
  2. Hamas refuses to reveal how many hostages are alive, Melanie Swan, The Telegraph, 4 March 2024.
  3. Biden admin carefully ramps up criticism of Israel over the Gaza war but stops short of cutting off military aid,
    Dan De Luce, Carol E. Lee, Julie Tsirkin, Courtney Kube, Allie Raffa, Frank Thorp V, Abigail Williams and Anna Schecter, NBC NEWS, 5 March 2024.
  4. Is Clueless Biden Getting Closer to Abandoning Israel?, Rebecca Downs, Townhall, 28 February 2024.
  5. White House requests lists of weapons to be sold to Israel, Jack Elbaum, World Israel News, 8 March 2024.
  6. Will Biden ban American weapons for Rafah offensive?, World Israel News, 7 March 2024.
  7. Gantz: ‘The IDF not operating in Rafah is like extinguishing 80% of a fire’, Vered Weiss, World Israel News,
    5 March 2024.
  8. Biden pushing Hamas narrative, strengthening terror group – WSJ, World Israel News, 5 March 2024.
  9. Biden has officially, publicly and formally turned on Israel, Daniel Greenfield, World Israel News, 10 March 2024.

 


  21 March 2024 {ARTICLE 616; ISRAEL_86}    
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