You may remember in October, after the murderous terrorist attack on southern Israel by Hamas, US President Joe Biden told Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the US had Israel’s back. America would support the Israelis in the fight to destroy the Iran-backed terrorist organization Hamas. Then, when the reality of war and the casualties that resulted started to hit the front page above the fold, the Biden administration became weak in the knees. Now the White House demands Israel implement an immediate ceasefire, effectively handing Gaza over to Hamas. So much for the president’s word.
Biden’s “Unwavering” Support for Israel Is Wavering
As Liberty Nation has consistently reported, the Israeli government and the Israel Defense Force (IDF) do not need Biden’s advice on how to destroy the vicious terrorist organization Hamas. Furthermore, Israel definitely does not require the constant hectoring by President Joe Biden about keeping innocent civilians safe in Gaza when Hamas’ principal defilade is non-combatants like women and children. The targeting and killing of seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) humanitarian aid workers, including one with dual Canadian-American citizenship, was a terrible mistake by the IDF. In a televised statement posted on X, the IDF Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, explained:
“I want to be very clear—the strike was not carried out with the intention of harming WCK aid workers. It was a mistake that followed a misidentification—at night during a war in very complex conditions. It shouldn’t have happened…This incident was a grave mistake. Israel is at war with Hamas, not the people of Gaza…We are sorry for the unintentional harm to the members of WCK…We share in the grief of their families, as well as the entire World Central Kitchen Organization, from the bottom of our hearts.”
That apology and statement of regret from a senior leader in the IDF was on April 2, soon after learning of the horrible event. Two days later, after what appeared to be an assessment of which way the political winds were blowing, the Biden administration asserted outrage over the unfortunate attack on WCK. In a readout of a 30-minute telephone conversation between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu, Biden gave the Israeli leader what sounded, at least to some, like an ultimatum. “Strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable…He underscored that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation…”
Furthermore, Biden “urged the Prime Minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home.” It’s important to remember that freeing the hostages held by Hamas inside Gaza is an objective at which Biden’s negotiators have failed over the last several months.
Though not explicit in the readout of the conversation, some took Biden’s tone as a more ominous caution to the Israeli prime minister. “President Joe Biden issued a stark warning to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday [April 4] that future US support for Israel’s Gaza war depends on the swift implementation of new steps to protect civilians and aid workers,” was the Associated Press’ takeaway. During a White House press briefing, Peter Doocy from Fox News probed National Security Council spokesman John Kirby’s weasel-worded statement about how, if Israel’s policy toward protecting civilians doesn’t change, then the administration will have to re-evaluate US policy toward its support of Israel.
Doocy Calls Kirby Out for Double-Speak
“On October 7 President Biden said my administration’s support for Israel’s security is rock solid and unwavering. That is not true anymore, correct?” Doocy asked. “How is his support wavering but you’re also considering policy choices?” Doocy continued. “Both can be true,” Kirby answered, but things have changed in the nearly six months the war has been ongoing. Thousands of civilians have been killed. “The manner in which they are defending themselves against the Hamas threat needs to change,” Kirby explained. However, the administration has not offered any practical approaches to doing that. What of Biden’s insistence on a ceasefire? There is no indication Hamas is interested in a ceasefire except as an opportunity to rearm and reconstitute its forces. Hamas certainly shows no inclination toward giving up the hostages.
Over at the Pentagon, meanwhile, the Defense Department press secretary, Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder, told the assembled press corps that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had a phone call with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant. Ryder explained: “As was highlighted in our readout last night, Secretary Austin expressed his outrage at the Israeli strike Tuesday on a World Central Kitchen humanitarian aid convoy that killed seven aid workers, including an American citizen.” Additionally, Austin told Gallant that the Israeli’s needed to “immediately take concrete steps to protect aid workers and Palestinian civilians in Gaza…to conduct a swift and transparent investigation into this incident, to share their conclusions publicly, and to hold those responsible to account.”
That last comment about “holding those responsible to account” is rich. It doesn’t take much of a memory to recount when US forces in Kabul, Afghanistan, during Biden’s ignominious retreat, executed a drone strike, killing a non-government aid worker and nine others in his family. It was a tragic mistake, but Austin held no one responsible or accountable. Even after a supposed transparent investigation. Isn’t there a concept most adults learn at a young age: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her”?
Biden and his national security team do not understand that being engaged in a war with a determined enemy is horrific at best. Trying to create a safe environment for providing humanitarian aid to non-combatants in the middle of the fighting is impossible. US forces have not been effective at it, nor would any military. What gives President Biden the idea that Israel would be any more successful despite their demonstrable best efforts?
The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliate.
