{Reposted from JNS}
On Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan all announced that the United States expects Israel to permit “humanitarian aid” into Gaza.
The implications of this position are devastating for Israel. According to reports, there are “hundreds of trucks” lined up on the border in Egypt to enter the Gaza Strip carrying so-called “humanitarian aid.” These trucks, if permitted to enter, will not be inspected in any significant way. There is no reason to believe they are carrying baby formula and foodstuffs that will be delivered to the needy. There is every reason to believe they are carrying war materiel and jihadist fighters who have arrived to augment Hamas.
To the extent that there is food in the trucks, who will it feed? The hostages? The infirm? Who will the medicine be delivered to? The hostages? Will the fuel in the trucks be used in refrigerators to feed the captive Israelis?
Of course not.
Hamas is Gaza. All the “ministries” in Gaza are Hamas. All hospitals are Hamas. Hamas’s military headquarters is located under Shifa Hospital.
So whatever and whoever is in the trucks carrying “humanitarian aid,” all of it will be delivered to Hamas and will be distributed to benefit Hamas.
The idea that it could be otherwise is absurd. And the fact that the Biden administration is arguing this absurdity is an outrage.
Even if the “hundreds of trucks” are completely empty—and they manifestly are not—the trucks themselves are instruments of war. Their presence in Gaza will also advance Hamas’s military effort against Israel. They will augment Hamas’s capacity to kill and wound untold numbers of IDF soldiers now poised at the border waiting for the Netanyahu government to finally order them to enter Gaza.
Biden, Blinken and Sullivan—like their counterparts in Europe and the United Nations—insist that they want to give Hamas the trucks to avert a humanitarian disaster in Gaza. But their position is actually devastating for Gaza’s civilians.
By barring civilians from escaping Gaza to its territory, even for the purpose of transiting to third countries, Egypt is collaborating with Hamas’s war effort. By enabling Egypt to maintain its position, and demanding that Israel allow Hamas to resupply while calling that resupply “humanitarian aid,” the Biden administration is trapping the civilians of Gaza it claims to care about protecting. They will remain under Hamas’s jackboot. They will remain its human shields and cannon fodder.
Similarly, the United States is providing material support for Hamas’s propaganda campaign blaming Israel for the carnage of which Hamas is the sole author—in Israel and Gaza alike.
The United States is also acting in breach of binding international law. As professor Avi Bell of the Bar Ilan University and University of San Diego law schools explained in an interview on “The Caroline Glick Show” on Sunday, while Biden and his aides have insisted repeatedly that they expect Israel to respect the international laws of war in its prosecution of its war effort against Hamas, the administration’s positions in relation to that war are illegal.
Following the Sept. 11, 2001 jihadist attacks on the United States, the U.N. Security Council passed resolution 1373 under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter. Chapter 7 resolutions, unlike others, are binding on all U.N. member nations.
Resolution 1373 stipulates that all U.N. member nations must “Refrain from providing any form of support, active or passive, to entities or persons involved in terrorist acts.”
Any provision of any aid to Gaza, which is completely controlled by Hamas, is of course either “active or passive” assistance to Hamas, and hence illegal.
Resolution 1373 also requires all U.N. member states to “Deny safe haven to those who finance, plan, support or commit terrorist acts, or provide safe havens.”
Following Blinken’s visit to Israel last Thursday, he traveled to Qatar. Qatar houses Hamas’s top terror masters. They planned their atrocities from Qatar. Iran’s cash and arms are funneled to Hamas through Qatar. Qatar’s Al Jazeera satellite channel is an integral component of Hamas’s terror machine. On Monday morning, the IDF announced that Al Jazeera reporters are transferring information about IDF troop placements and numbers to Hamas both directly and through their broadcasts.
Qatar is Hamas.
Rather than designate Qatar officially as a state sponsor of terrorism, last Friday Blinken embraced Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassin Al Thani as an ally. And that makes sense because from the administration’s perspective, Hamas’s host is a U.S. ally. Shortly after entering office, the Biden administration designated Qatar a major non-NATO ally—the same designation Israel enjoys.
By embracing Qatar as an ally rather than punishing it for its central role at all levels of Hamas’s terror infrastructure, the administration is breaching international law, yet again. It is also betraying Israel.
In his interview with 60 Minutes, Biden said that the United States opposes Israel’s war goal of obliterating Hamas and destroying its capacity to govern in any way in Gaza. Instead, Biden drew an obscene, imaginary distinction between Hamas and “extreme elements in Hamas.”
Biden also endorsed the idea that Israel should knock down Hamas a few notches, but not conquer Gaza. Instead, he intimated that the PLO-controlled Palestinian Authority, which supports Hamas and is serving as its foreign ministry at the United Nations and in world capitals, should rule Gaza.
As a superpower, the United States is in a position to side with Israel and Hamas simultaneously. And that is clearly the Biden administration’s current policy. The administration’s goal, apparently, is to block Israel from winning and force it to fight to a draw—in the best-case scenario. This is perfect for Hamas, which would survive, and with its friends in the United States, the United Nations, Iran, Qatar and throughout the Arab and Western world, rebuild itself stronger than ever.
For Israel, it would be a calamity of biblical proportions. Alone in the world, and treated infamously by its ostensible U.S. ally, Israel would emerge from the war with its regional position in tatters. The peace with Egypt and Jordan would likely not long survive. The Abraham Accords would be undone. And the very notion of normalization of ties with Saudi Arabia would be pushed down the memory hole. Iran would stand as the regional superpower, and within months could be expected to test a nuclear weapon. Israel’s future, in short, would be bleak.
On the face of things, with the Israeli public now united behind the goal of eradicating Hamas, the administration’s position should be impossible to sell to the people of Israel. Apparently recognizing this state of affairs, during his brief visit to Israel on Oct. 12, Blinken made a point of meeting with the Brothers in Arms paramilitary organization. Until the war, Brothers in Arms was a shock force comprising the backbone of the anti-government riots. Its members routinely assaulted government ministers and Knesset members from Netanyahu’s governing coalition as well as academics, businessmen and journalists who support the Netanyahu government. Brothers in Arms worked to undermine the readiness of the IDF by calling for members of key reserve units, first and foremost Air Force pilots, to refuse to serve under the Netanyahu government.
Since the atrocities of Oct. 7, with the support of its billionaire funders, Brothers in Arms has launched an extraordinary, massive civilian assistance campaign for the south—second to none in the national war effort. Its operation has won it the legitimate plaudits from all sectors of Israeli society.
All the same, Blinken’s visit to their aid operation was a signal to Netanyahu. Likewise regarding his decision to meet with opposition Leader Yair Lapid during his visit on Monday. To wit, if Netanyahu fails to bow to the administration’s pressure to save Hamas, the administration will turn to the likes of Brothers in Arms and Lapid to undermine the internal stability and cohesion of Israeli society once again, this time at the height of the ground operation in Gaza.
Netanyahu, hobbled politically by the assault, may be living through his final days as national leader. Even many of his most fervent supporters are intimating that he may be forced to resign when the war has ended. Whether Netanyahu sees the end before him, or believes he will be able to stay in power once the war is over, his future and his legacy are now on the line.
If Netanyahu stands up to the United States, he may face a renewal of the violent protests against him and his government. If it happens, the goal of the operatives organizing the protests will be to undermine morale in a time of war. Judging by media coverage to date, the rioters will be supported by nearly every media organ in the country.
On the other hand, if he stands up to Biden, Netanyahu will give the soldiers and commanders of the IDF the opportunity to fight this war to victory and secure Israel for the next many years.
If Netanyahu fails to stand up to the United States, if he buckles, the pressure from Washington won’t stop. By buckling, he will merely whet the appetites of the likes of U.S. envoy to the Palestinians Hady Amr—who has a public record of supporting Hamas (and worked in Doha, Qatar during the Trump years). Amr and his colleagues will pocket Israel’s first concession and demand more, and more, and more, in coordination with Hamas, the PLO, Qatar and Egypt.
Following the war, Netanyahu will be pushed out of office, his legacy in tatters forever. The Israel he will leave behind will be one where Jewish sovereignty will be placed in doubt for the first time in 75 years. Now is no time to go wobbly.
