Biden needs to do everything possible to help Israel defeat Hamas and protect our homeland from terrorists.
Three weeks after the 7 October attacks on Israel by Hamas, Israeli forces are moving gradually into the Gaza Strip. They are doing so gradually because political pressure — especially from the Biden administration — has caused them to delay.
From the outset, President Biden and Secretary of State Tony Blinken have played a very cagey game with the Israelis. On 8 October, the day after the attack, Blinken posted on “X” (formerly Twitter) that, “Turkish Foreign Minister @HakanFidan and I spoke further on Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Israel. I encouraged Türkiye’s advocacy for a cease-fire and the release of all hostages held by Hamas immediately.” Shortly afterward — when outrage at Blinken’s statement erupted — the post was taken down. (READ MORE from Jed Babbin: Wars Raise Two More Critical Issues)
Since then, as reported by the Wall Street Journal and many others, U.S. officials have been pressuring the Israelis to delay a Gaza incursion for reasons including allowing time for the U.S. to deploy more missile defenses into the area.
Biden has denied demanding that the Israelis delay the Gaza action but it’s not at all clear that his staff — including Blinken, SecDef Austin and others — are even telling him what’s going on.
The delays are also caused by Israeli skepticism about the Gaza mission and how it can be accomplished. My friend Dr. Chuck Freilich, a former deputy national security adviser to the Israeli government, said the delays were because Israel is preparing the battlefield.
Freilch told me in a Saturday email that, “Delay was beneficial to best prepare for a very difficult mission, to provide time to explore every possibility to get some of the hostages out and because the U.S. wanted to finish deploying its extensive capabilities to the region.”
How can the Israelis accomplish the destruction of Hamas? First, by refusing to return to the status quo ante. Here again, Biden is getting it wrong. He said last week that the U.S. is still committed to a “two-state solution” to the Palestinian’s grievances.
That is simply bizarre. As this column has pointed out repeatedly, the Israelis have offered a “two-state” solution to the Palestinians three times since 2000 on far more generous terms than Jordan and Egypt did when they controlled the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Each time the Palestinians rejected Israel’s offer.
Biden’s statement is both ignorant and a denial of the Palestinians’ rejection of Israel’s right to exist.
The Israelis have been hitting Hamas targets from the air for over two weeks. They have used precision-guided munitions to great effect and to minimize civilian casualties.
