“Israel Must Finish Hamas”old salt wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2024 3:25 pm ...Biden is limiting more than their choice of a specific munition on a specific target.
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/i ... erm=second
Israel Must Finish Hamas — Even without Biden’s Support
This is a grotesque betrayal of an ally during time of war — an ally Biden claimed has his “ironclad” support. But from the Israeli perspective, Biden’s decision cannot prevent the nation from its necessary goal of destroying Hamas.
Biden’s threat certainly will need to change Israeli battle plans, as the IDF will now have to consider tactically how to invade Rafah without U.S. support while still leaving enough in the tank to counter the threats from Hezbollah and Iran itself. A change in plans could very well lead to a more bloody conflict, with more IDF troops in harm’s way and more Palestinian casualties (as Biden would be cutting off deliveries of precision bombs if he follows through on his threats).
Whatever it takes, however, it is crucial for the survival of Israel to go it alone if necessary.
Right now, thanks to Biden’s actions, all of Israel’s enemies are emboldened. Iran, and its proxies, see that U.S. support for Israel is shaky. Hamas has no reason to negotiate to free hostages, because Biden is protecting the terrorist group from Israeli action on its remaining stronghold in Rafah. The IDF war effort in Gaza is flailing, with Hamas retaking areas previously held by Israel as Biden has pressured Israel into retreating from them, citing humanitarian concerns. It’s been months since there has been sustained military pressure on Hamas.
Were Israel forced by Biden to abandon its campaign against Hamas, it would be putting its population at risk from future attacks from Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah. It would signal utter helplessness and vulnerability. Hamas will have shown that it can pull off any attack on Israel, no matter how ghastly, and as long as it digs in under major population centers, it can survive.
If, instead, Israel were to go ahead with a major assault on Rafah now, it would help reestablish momentum in the war, and demonstrate that Israel is dedicated to routing out Hamas and is willing to do so at the risk of a loss in U.S. support. It would also send a powerful signal to Iran, for the future, that Israel is willing to take care of business even without support of the U.S.
More fundamentally, this is a crucial test of Israel’s national identity. Israel takes a lot of pride in being a sovereign nation. Israelis argue that the lesson of the Holocaust was that Jews cannot depend on others to rescue them, that they have to be prepared to fight for their survival even if they have to do so alone. Sacrificing Jewish security out of fear of reprimand from Joe Biden would seriously undermine this vision of Israel.
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/m ... joe-biden/
Menachem Begin Warned Us about Joe Biden
In 1982, at a closed-door meeting of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden had threatened Begin with cutting off military aid for Israel’s offensive campaign in Lebanon. As Tevi Troy noted in the Wall Street Journal, the story went that Begin responded in fiery outrage:
" Don’t threaten us with cutting off aid to give up our principles. I’m not a Jew with trembling knees. I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of civilized history. Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. Nobody came to our aid when we were striving to create our country. We paid for it. We fought for it. We died for it. We will stand by our principles. We will defend them. And, when necessary, we will die for them again, with or without your aid."
Forty-two years later, Joe Biden has learned nothing.
But we have learned who Joe Biden truly is. That he is doing exactly what he threatened Begin with over four decades ago suggests that Biden’s actions in pledging to withhold weaponry for an Israeli offensive into Rafah, however surprising they might seem to some, are drawn from a long-standing outlook toward Israel. In other words, Biden threatening to cut off aid to the Jewish state if it takes measures against its enemies is a feature, rather than a bug, of his decades-old policy.
Menachem Begin saw clearly. We can’t say we weren’t warned.
At any cost? Yes, Hamas is abhorrent and needs to be deslt with. However, isolating your country from the rest of the world is a pretty steep price. Particularly when you, Bibi, appear to be using this campaign to escape justice for the long-running corruption charges and culpability re Hamas’ pre-eminence and control of Gaza.
Does Bibi and his coalition government think the world is stupid and can’t see him for what he and they are?
As I said, “checkmate.”