The White House continues to send mixed signals on America's support for Israel. That emboldens Hamas and needs to stop.
At a fundraiser last Tuesday, President Joe Biden vigorously defended the Jewish state, saying that the United States is "not going to do a damn thing other than protect Israel in the process. Not a single thing." He later added, "Without Israel as a free-standing state, not a Jew in the world is safe," The New York Times reported.
Yet at that same fundraiser, Biden publicly warned Israeli leaders that they risked losing international support for their response to the Oct. 7 terror attack if they continue "indiscriminate bombing." And by the end of the week, the administration's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, was pressuring Israel to wrap up its military campaign and accept a Gaza run by the Palestinian Authority.
This is unhelpful. Hamas has made clear that its goal is to eliminate the state of Israel. It has carried out unspeakable attacks on civilians and continues to hold hostages — including eight American citizens — that it took during its barbaric Oct. 7 incursion. The terror group intentionally hides military targets among civilians, revealing a callous disregard for the lives of its own people. Last week, Israeli soldiers arrested dozens of Hamas fighters at a hospital in northern Gaza, the BBC reported.
The conflicting rhetoric makes it only more difficult for Israel to achieve its goals. On Thursday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby allowed that, "The last thing we would want to do is telegraph to Hamas what they're likely to face in coming weeks and months."
Really? What other practical effect does the administration's public stance that Israel wind everything down and avoid "indiscriminate" attacks have than to telegraph to Hamas that it will live to terrorize the Jewish state another day if it can postpone defeat for a few months?
Who knows what the American message has been in back-channel diplomatic conversations with Israel. Perhaps the president's attempt to have it both ways is just a ham-fisted way to appease the radical progressives that have taken over the Democratic Party and would just as soon leave Israel out in the cold. But either way, Biden's public criticisms and attempts to micromanage the Israeli war effort invigorate the enemy.
"It will require a long period of time," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said last week. "Hamas is a terrorist organization that built itself over a decade to fight Israel, and they built infrastructure under the ground and above the ground, and it is not easy to destroy them."
The task becomes even more difficult when Biden and his advisers repeatedly imply that American support for Israel is wavering. It must not.
(COMMENT, BELOW)
Previously:
•
The hating class as brave defenders
•
Blinken only emboldens Hamas terrorists
•
White House green Slush fund throwing around cash
•
Biden immigration policies souring even Dems
•
Dems fret as the bad news mounts for Biden
•
Billions in coronavirus money still sitting around
•
Senate delegation reassures Israel; where's the House?
•
Senate delegation reassures Israel; where's the House?
•
Chicago takes victim blaming to an absurd new low
•
The utter failure of money to improve education
•
Group identity drives American division
•
The downside of Biden's drug price control scheme
•
WARNING: Here's why top insurers are fleeing
•
'They even laughed in my face'
•
Red states power Biden's economy
•
'If you have private insurance, you can' … OOPS!
•
Ignoring the Bill of Rights when its convenient
•
Hunter cops a plea --- but the Biden probes continue
• Will we every truly know the depth of pandemic fraud?
• Hello there, Big Brother! Please, come right in
• Its not perfect, but it's a start on immigration reform
• IRS wants to branch out
• Gas stove ban conspiracy theory comes true
• Biden's busy bureaucrats beef up regulatory state
• Don't even dare think of emulamating New Yawk!
• Where have all the nation's college students gone?
• Soft-on-crime policies hit hard wall of political reality
• Joe Biden and Monty Python is no comedy
• Global warming was supposed to wreak havoc on polar bears. Looks like someone forgot to tell the polar bears