“The munitions cutoff helps Hamas,” wrote NY Times pundit Bret Stephens on Thursday (President Biden Just Made His Biggest Blunder). “Whatever else the arms cutoff might accomplish when it comes to Israel, it is both a propaganda coup and a tactical victory for Hamas that validates its decision to treat its own people as human shields,” Stephens continued, suggesting Biden’s move may also have been a death sentence for the remaining Israeli hostages.
Bret Stephens, 51, a conservative journalist, editor, and pundit, has been an opinion columnist for The New York Times and a senior contributor to NBC News since 2017. Since 2021, he has been the inaugural editor-in-chief of SAPIR: A Journal of Jewish Conversations.
In August 2016, The Wall Street Journal featured a column by Stephens discussing an incident involving an Egyptian judoka who declined to shake hands with his Israeli counterpart following an Olympic match. In the column, Stephens referred to antisemitism as “the disease of the Arab mind,” a statement that sparked offense among some readers who interpreted it as implying that all Arabs harbored antisemitic beliefs.
Stephens asserts that “No Israeli government, even one led by someone more moderate than Benjamin Netanyahu, is going to leave Gaza with Hamas still in control of any part of the territory.” Israel will persist in its attack on the last Hamas stronghold in the Strip, which leads Stephens to ask, “Other than putting Israeli troops at greater risk, does the Biden administration really think the toll for Palestinians will be less after weeks or months of house-to-house combat?”
Finally, according to Stephens, Israeli concerns regarding the reliability of the United States as an ally won’t prompt Israel to become more compliant. On the contrary, it will bolster its resolve to reduce dependence on Washington’s influence, potentially in ways that may be concerning.
This could manifest in Israel sharing cutting-edge cyber technology with Beijing or forging closer relationships with Moscow. Those who criticize Israel for relying on US power may find it even more unsettling when Israel starts pursuing an independent foreign policy.
Stephens wrote that President Biden should heed the lesson from his attempts to isolate Saudi Arabia globally, only to discover that the kingdom had alternative strategic pathways, leading to his own embarrassment.
As to the Biden move against Israel being driven by the President’s need to secure Democratic votes in swing states with large Muslim populations such as Michigan and Ohio, Stephens believes that while anti-Israel sentiments may echo loudly across college campuses, their impact is limited: few voters, including the youth, prioritize the conflict in Gaza in their political considerations.
Contrary to this, a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll indicates that a significant majority of Americans support the existing level of assistance for Israel, with some even advocating for its augmentation. The proposed cutoff will distance pro-Israel voters further and may only partially appease anti-Israel groups, potentially leading them to demand more aggressive actions from the president.
CAN HILLARY SAVE BIDEN’S BACON?
On Thursday, Hillary Clinton criticized campus protesters, suggesting that many young people lack a comprehensive understanding of the history of the Middle East.
During an appearance on the MSNBC show “Morning Joe,” Clinton remarked, “I have had many conversations, as you have had, with a lot of young people over the last many months now. They don’t know very much at all about the history of the Middle East, or frankly about history, in many areas of the world, including in our own country.”
Clinton further indicated that young people may not be aware that if Yasir Arafat, the former leader of the Palestinian Authority, had accepted a deal brokered by her husband, President Bill Clinton, Palestinians could have already established their own state. She lamented, “It’s one of the great tragedies of history that he was unable to say yes.”
Could it have anything to do with “the disease of the Arab mind?”
Last November, students walked out of Hillary Clinton’s class in Columbia to protest the school’s publicly shaming students who signed a statement saying Israel was responsible for the war. In April, protestors disrupted Clinton’s visit to her alma mater, Wellesley College.
Hillary Clinton represents the sane, right-leaning Democrats, and so far, she and her colleagues have not been able to temper the White House and State Dept. staff’s rush to jump off the cliff of destroying US relations with Israel. And although elections are never won or lost over foreign policy – heck, Nixon won 49 out of 50 states in 1972, with a majority of Americans objecting to his stay in Vietnam – the 2024 vote will be impacted by Biden’s war on Israel’s war on Gaza because, on the other side of the aisle, folks will be voting their foreign policy notions.
IT’S A TRUMP BONANZA
The Republican Jewish Coalition sent out a statement that explains exactly how every time Biden messes with Israel, another Democratic angel dies:
Joe Biden has cemented his legacy as the worst President for the Jewish community and the State of Israel ever.
By withholding critical military aid to the Jewish state as it fights a war for its very survival, Biden is effectively siding with Iran and its terrorist proxies over Israel. This is an unprecedented, shameful, and despicable betrayal of a key ally and vital security partner at the worst possible time.
Israel must have the time, space, and support it needs to defeat Hamas and rescue the hostages. History will judge Biden harshly for this dereliction of responsibility to our friend and partner Israel.
Clearly, Joe Biden has not learned the lesson of “Never Again.” Today, 72% of Americans support an IDF military operation in Rafah to destroy Hamas. Yet in the interview with CNN where Biden announced this indefensible embargo on Israel, he made no mention of the hostages still languishing in Gaza – which include American citizens. He never even mentioned Hamas, the murderous terrorist organization responsible for October 7 and everything that came after!
In these perilous times, we need strong, courageous, and principled leadership. On Joe Biden’s watch, we have seen a horrific massacre of Israeli civilians by an Iranian proxy group, an unprecedented direct attack on Israel’s homeland by Iran, and a historic spike in antisemitism, especially on US college campuses. We have a President who has caved to the worst elements in society in an attempt to salvage a flailing re-election campaign.
Pro-Israel Americans know that Joe Biden has failed miserably to stand with our ally and keep the United States safe.
We need President Donald Trump back in the White House – November 5 cannot come soon enough.
Yours truly is a registered Democrat, and yet I couldn’t disagree with anything RJC National Chairman, former Senator Norm Coleman, and CEO Matt Brooks, had to say on this matter. This could be the year the Jews jumped ship – much like the Hispanics.
