Katie wrote yesterday about Hamas agreeing to a ceasefire, which quickly became a sham. Their demands were, once again, outrageous, which promptly led to Israel proceeding with their planned assault on Rafah, the last Hamas stronghold in Gaza. Biden has stressed his opposition, but to no avail because he’s exceedingly weak abroad. Everyone knows his next move, which our enemies exploit. His unpredictability makes our allies tense, so they go alone as if America is absent. It’s hilarious since this mentally degraded man declared “America is back” after the 2020 election. Biden forgot that you need to be smart and have skills in the international field—two qualities that this man does not possess.
Biden dispatched CIA Director William Burns to hash out a last-minute attempt to get a ceasefire agreement done, but the way it was handled was a total circus. Axios’ Barak Ravid details an international trainwreck of epic proportions, where American officials got way ahead of their skis on this one. Jerusalem is claiming CIA Director Burns and other top Biden officials knew about the agreement but didn’t tell Israel (via Axios):
No really wtf is this https://t.co/jMMCRjnZEp
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) May 7, 2024
Israeli officials claim the Biden administration knew about the latest hostage and ceasefire deal proposal Egypt and Qatar negotiated with Hamas, but didn't brief Israel before Hamas announced it accepted it on Monday. A senior U.S. official pushed back saying "American diplomats have been engaged with Israeli counterparts. There have been no surprises."
Why it matters: The episode has created deep disappointment and suspicion among senior Israeli officials regarding the U.S. role in the hostage deal talks and could negatively influence the negotiations going forward.
The U.S. official said "this is an extremely difficult process with negotiations conducted through intermediaries in Doha and Cairo."
He added that the U.S. believes Israel has engaged in the talks in good faith and that Israel's late April proposal was "the most forward leaning proposal to date. To secure a ceasefire, Hamas simply needs to release hostages. It's all mapped out."
The official also said the Biden administration sees Hamas' response as a counter-proposal and not as a new proposal.
But it's the latest episode to deepen tensions between the Biden administration and Israeli leaders over the war in Gaza…
[…]
CIA director Bill Burns was in Cairo and Doha when the talks were taking place and weighed in with the Egyptians and the Qataris, according to sources familiar with the talks.
The CIA declined to comment.
Behind the scenes: Three Israeli officials said the Hamas announcement on Monday surprised the Israeli government and that Israel didn't receive the text of the groups response from the mediators until an hour after Hamas released its statement.
[…]
The officials claimed CIA director Bill Burns and other Biden administration officials who are involved in the negotiations knew about the new proposal but didn't tell Israel.
The Israeli officials also said the last touches on the proposal were made on Monday morning in Doha with the Biden administration's knowledge.
On Monday morning, Burns spoke on the phone with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, a source with knowledge of the call said. But when Hamas released its statement the Israeli minister was also surprised.
Two Israeli officials said the feeling is that "Israel got played" by the U.S. and the mediators who drafted "a new deal" and weren't transparent about it.
It just needs to be said at this point: What a ‘s**tshow.’
When you have someone who isn’t in control, this is what happens. When you have a president who’s been appallingly wrong on foreign policy for 40 years, this is what you get. When you have an entire administration filled with incompetents and hacks and staffed with equally poor support staff, this happens. The Biden people also think they’re smarter than everyone else, which blew up in their faces. Everyone, behold the wreckage. The Obama people were no better, too.
What the fresh hell is this? And Biden has the gall to think Israel should listen to them about Rafah. They can’t even get a hostage negotiation deal executed correctly.
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