Whenever the Obama or Biden administrations have used the expressions “ironclad” or “rock solid” to describe the US-Israel relationship, Israel was about to get the short end of the stick.
Let’s start with a disclaimer. The United States has no absolute obligation to provide weapons or ammunition to Israel. There are many countries that do not provide weapons to Israel. Russia and China come to mind. With the above stated, there are treaties between the countries to provide $3 billion of military aid that is spent almost entirely in the US. There are also Congressional actions such as the recent law that included $17 billion for new weapons for Israel. I imagine that the law leaves the president or his secretary of defense some latitude to stop a sale or transfer, even if approved. On the more moral side, Israel is a staunch supporter and friend of the US, and it is in the US's interest to have a strong democratic friend and outpost in a bad neighborhood.
President Biden and his administration have delayed the transfer of ammunition to Israel during a hot war. The president has gone further in a recent interview to state categorically that he would not ship certain types of weapons to Israel should the latter expand its activities in Rafah. This is an extraordinary step, especially in light of the president’s initial words about Israel needing to get rid of Hamas, of being certain that it cannot be attacked again as it was on 10/7 and the like. Here in Israel, the feeling is one of a stab in the back. Providing Iron Dome missiles alone is asking Israel’s enemies to keep shooting projectiles at it.
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President Biden and his Obama retreads (Jarrett, Rice, Power, Kerry, and more) always tell the world how strong (ironclad, rock solid) the US relationship is with Israel immediately prior to shafting the Jewish state. In Obama’s time, the White House also halted a missile transfer during a hot war with Hamas. Additionally, Samantha Power voted against Israel at the UN, all the while telling Israel and the world how strong the bilateral bond was between the countries. It’s like a guy beating his wife silly while telling her how much he loves her.
Something that always amazes me is how poor the political instincts are of some of our top politicians. Bill Clinton and Donald Trump have good political instincts. Kristi Noem proved that she has none by telling the world of her putting down a puppy. Why didn’t she just give it away? Why did she have to write about it in her new book and receive universal scorn for her actions? I remember Condi Rice being shocked when Hamas won legislative elections in Gaza in 2006. Anyone who spent time here knew how much the Palestinian people hated the Palestinian Authority and Arafat’s henchmen. But for our then secretary of state, it was a complete shocker.
Now let’s move to Biden and his advisers. They have held back weapons and threatened to stop shipment of “offensive” weapons if Israel really does a number on Rafah. Let’s try to put ourselves in the Oval Office as they were planning this one out. The massive and violent protests on campus and elsewhere have been directed at Joe Biden for supporting Israel. “Genocide Joe” they call him for supporting Israel’s fight against a barbaric terrorist death cult. So their thinking is that if they don't send Israel weapons, they will regain the love and trust of the young and progressive wings of the party. This is pure fantasy. Unless the US actively bombs Tel Aviv and Haifa, the progressive wing of the party will never be satisfied with the US government. They have been infected by Islamists and pro-Palestinian groups that want Israel to be erased from the map. Nothing Joe Biden can do without declaring war on Israel or issuing arrest warrants for its leaders will be enough for these shrieking harridans and their friends.
But what have Biden’s actions done? They have probably further alienated traditionally Democratic-supporting liberal Jews who feel that the administration not only has shafted Israel but also the Jews in the US. When college-occupying lunatics demand that Jews “go back to Poland,” they are talking about American Jews, not only Israelis. So Biden has not brought his progressives back into the fold and he has angered one of his most reliable constituencies: non-Orthodox Jews.
And what is the justification for Biden’s threats to cut off Israel’s arms supplies? To protect Palestinian civilians? Which ones? The ones who ran out into the streets of Rafah to beat the dead and dying Israelis brought back as trophies of the 10/7 pogrom? Or maybe the 75 percent of Gazans who still support what Hamas did on that day? By denying Israel JDAM kits, Israel will have to use dumb bombs and kill more Palestinian civilians. They must spell genius with a capital “J” in the current White House.
So what are Israel’s options? Israelis want Hamas destroyed. It was not just an attack. It was a sadistic, barbaric rape/murder/destruction/
So President Biden has failed to get his loose cannon progressive wing back on board, he has alienated reliable Jewish voters, he has stabbed Israel in the back, and he will not stop Israel from destroying Hamas in Rafah. His actions have accomplished nothing positive from any angle.
Israel will once again have to figure out how to wean itself off of American largesse. I, too, would like to go shopping with a $3 billion voucher, but in the future, Israel will have to know that it has the bullets, tank shells, artillery rounds and plane-delivered ordnance to get the job done. Israel is a small country that does not have the industrial base to be a massive arms manufacturer. It better start drumming up more customers so that they can become an even bigger arms exporter than they are today.
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