Editors at National Review Online take aim at the president’s approach toward Israel.
When President Biden took a solidarity trip to Israel in the wake of the October 7 attacks, we gave him credit while cautioning that his vow to stand with Israelis would be put to the test in the ensuing months. Five months later, Biden is failing that test.
As Israel’s defensive war against Hamas enters a critical phase, Biden’s hostile turn, made under left-wing pressure in an election year, is setting the stage for one of the biggest crises in the history of American relations with our steadfast ally.
Over the course of several decades, Israel has become a difficult wedge issue for Democratic politicians. While, for Republicans, there’s no fear of declaring unqualified support for Israel, Democrats are torn between the traditional wing of their party and the influential Left, which despises the Jewish state.
From the get-go, Biden tried to balance his support for Israel with lectures about protecting civilian lives and ensuring more humanitarian aid be let into Gaza. Israel has taken extraordinary pains to limit the toll on innocent bystanders and increase the amount of aid allowed in, which has been especially difficult in a crowded urban environment against an enemy that hides behind civilians and diverts the food and supplies intended for the Palestinian people.
The lectures and warnings by Biden and administration officials, as well as the stream of leaks in which officials complain about Israel, have been constant from the start of the war. They delayed the onset of the ground invasion in Gaza and have complicated Israel’s war efforts. Nonetheless, Israel has still been able to proceed and make major gains — seizing control of much of the Strip, decimating Hamas, and limiting its ability to launch rockets into Israel. Israel has now killed thousands of Hamas terrorists (12,000 of an estimated 30,000 fighters if you believe Israel, or 6,000 if you believe Hamas). Thousands more have been wounded and are unable to fight.
