Opposition from Democrats Against Israel
We will eliminate Hamas, free all of our hostages, and ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Sunday, adding that no international pressure will prevent us from accomplishing all of the war’s goals. What this means for U.S. policy toward Israel is that it is being seen as a threat to President Biden.
Among Jerusalem’s elite, there’s a running joke about Joe Biden’s apparent shift in focus from aiding Israel following October 7 to pursuing a “two-state solution” involving Michigan and Nevada. The Israelis have noticed that the president no longer talks much about defeating Hamas. Instead, he attacks Israel while simultaneously criticizing the prime minister of that country.
By doing this balancing act, Mr. Biden hopes to appease the anti-Israeli left without upsetting the majority of American voters, who would consider it morally wrong to betray the Israeli people during a conflict. Israelis are now claiming about the United States what Henry Kissinger previously said: that the country has no foreign strategy and focuses solely on internal politics. What other way to describe Mr. Biden’s “red line” about Rafah, the last stronghold of Hamas?
You can’t claim to back Israel’s aim of destroying Hamas while also criticizing the measures taken by Israel, according to Mr. Netanyahu. Both the fight and the peace would be lost if Fatah were to replace Hamas in Rafah. Not “Bibi,” but an Israeli consensus.
American forces know Rafah must fall, according to Israeli authorities, but Biden’s team doesn’t. National security advisor to the president Jake Sullivan stated on Monday that the United States does not support giving Hamas a safe haven in Rafah or anywhere else, but that it would be a mistake to launch a large-scale ground operation there. The continued presence of Hamas units, however, renders all of their political proposals for Gaza futile. If Hamas is able to eliminate its Palestinian opponents by shooting them, then politics will cease to exist.
Mr. Biden used the 30,000 casualties in Gaza, according to Hamas, as an excuse to criticize Israel. Israel claims over 13,000 of them were Hamas fighters; why doesn’t he bring that up? In Dearborn, Michigan, they would rather not hear that the resultant combatant-to-civilian casualty ratio is roughly 1 to 1.3, which is evidence of Israeli precision and restraint.
Quite unusually, a US intelligence assessment that predicted “large protests” against Mr. Netanyahu and put doubt on the political viability of his wartime leadership was released last Monday. That was the United States’ policy toward allied democracies in the past, not friendly dictatorships.
Even Senator Chuck Schumer’s shocking statement last week—that Israelis must remove the elected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—has Mr. Biden’s support. Additional Democrats are jumping on board.
U.S. weapons delivery delays, leaked threats to cut off supplies, and the Biden administration’s undercover attempts to discourage other countries from transferring weapons to Jerusalem are even more concerning. Even if ammunition supplies are a big worry, Israel has already had its existential nerve pricked; it isn’t going to wait for the weak Biden administration to approve Rafah. Israel is ramping up its production of its own weapons, and the general consensus is that it is prepared to use whatever means necessary to defend itself.
The United States is not an untouchable black box that Mr. Netanyahu treats like it spits out a presidential policy and then that’s it. He is aware that the public’s opinion in the United States can be swayed to limit the authority of the president. Mr. Biden is mistaken if he believes he has the exclusive power to influence this situation in the run-up to the US election.
The realization in Israel that maybe the United States can’t be trusted is the driving force behind this conflict. The extremist wing is already a permanent force that no Democratic Party leader can ignore, as pointed out in a Thursday essay in the Yediot Ahronot newspaper.
Israel views a Trump administration with mixed feelings: optimism and caution. At least for the time being, Republicans who would desert Ukraine are still defending Israel. For how long will that hold true?
Neither Israel nor Ukraine seems to be getting any assistance from the United States at the moment. The key for the Middle East, in the eyes of the world, is not for Israel to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians, but for it to lead the fight against terrorism supported by Iran with the full backing of the United States.
