Has won on Sunday following Israel’s withdrawal of its surface troops from southern Gaza, in part in response to President Joe Biden’s demand for an “immediate peace.” Israel is now at risk of losing the battle.
Israelis are asking, inevitably, how this came to pass.
Some Israelis wonder if they should possess emphasized aid to Gaza early after the sudden death of seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers.
The issue was truly that Israel, rather than Hamas, accepted role for the security of the Palestinian civil population above and beyond its legal obligation to never kill residents ( as Hamas does in both Gaza and Israel ).
In a normal battle, each part is responsible for its unique citizens. The enemy loses and loses. As the Palestinians did in this instance, they have no right to demand special care.
That principle is inverted in Gaza, where anti- Israel activists and kept- aircraft “progressives” have pushed the fake concept that Israel is an occupying power. ( Israel pulled its soldiers and civilians out in 2005, Hamas took over in a 2007 coup ).
The Biden management, facing opposition from Egyptian- and Muslim- British voters in Michigan, and a protest by its own “progressive” team, began pressuring Israel early in the war to suppose responsibility for aiding Gaza residents.
Israel paid the price for ongoing British assistance, both militarily and diplomatically. Over the objections of some Jewish hostage-related communities, it authorized the opening of Gaza border crossings for aid cars.
The Democratic basic was under more and more stress from the Biden administration as Israel advanced. As part of a wider Saudi-Israeli harmony, the White House began to discuss the establishment of a Palestinian status as the result of the conflict.
Before the war, the Biden administration reportedly held up a Saudi-Israeli deal because it did not include the Palestinians ( who are not a Saudi priority ) because of the idea of a Palestinian state.
A Palestinian position was a non-starter in Israel after the war, which had just been attacked by a self-governing Israeli territory. But for Biden, it offered a way to appease his critics, and score a foreign policy success.
When Biden and Netanyahu’s conflict broke out in public before the battle. Netanyahu pointed out, correctly, that he himself was not the problem: the majority of Israelis even oppose a Israeli state.
The White House attempted to halt the Israeli occupation of Palestine, partly out of problem for Israeli civilians and partly out of worry that if Israel won very quickly, the United States may not be able to compel Israel to take a Palestinian state.
Effectively, Biden began backing Hamas and forcing Israel to accept his Middle East views. Israel was advised by the White House to avoid entering Khan Yunis, a significant city in southern Gaza where Hamas leaders had concentrated.
Israel defied Biden and entered Khan Yunis, taking both the U. S. and Hamas by surprise. As Hamas leaders fled to Rafah, Israeli troops discovered recently abandoned tunnels filled with cash and quickly gained ground support.
By early February, Rafah — a key strategic point on the Egyptian border — was the last Hamas stronghold. Bin Laden tried to use Hamas as a leverage against Israel, but he once more put his foot down and expressed concern for civilians.
Israel launched a daring rescue mission from Rafah that defied Biden once more.
The Israeli media reported then that the United States was slow to deliver weapons and ammunition.
Netanyahu testified to American television that an operation in Rafah would bring an end to the war in “weeks,” not “months.”
Israel was cautious in its own ways: it wanted to protect its own leadership from Hamas’s transfer of the 130 or so Israeli hostages to Rafah. Netanyahu, however, hoped that American influence could ease Hamas ‘ hostage situation while preventing military support.
Biden instead began blatantly warning Israel that if it moved into Rafah, it would lose American support. One of the original Russia hoaxers, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, called Israeli aides to meetings in March.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza grew more acute as a result of the Americans ‘ pressure on Israel to delay, or at least became more of a focus for the international media. A fight that had a chance to end in weeks dragged on for months.
In order to save its plan for a Palestinian state, the Biden administration pushed for a ceasefire resolution at the UN, but it eventually abandoned its call for a pause in relation to a hostage deal.
Hamas could then turn away from compromise and resume its call for a full ceasefire before the hostages would be freed. The U. S. also continued slapping sanctions on Israeli settlers, isolating Israel further.
Meanwhile, Iran’s other proxy, Hezbollah, began stepping up its attacks on northern Israel. If Israel had to fight a war with Hezbollah, which was even more dangerous than Hamas, it could not take the risk of losing its weapons.
And so, even before the WCK disaster, Israel was in a difficult, if not impossible, position. Biden put it in place because he has always had a bad reputation in foreign policy, as Robert Gates once once said.
Before the war, Biden had already put Israel at risk by restoring Trump’s cut in aid to Palestinians, including the terror-linked UN Relief and Works Agency ( UNWRA ), in addition to its hundreds of millions of dollars.
After four years of secrecy under Trump, Hamas declared war on Iran in 2021. And when Netanyahu won the 2022 election, Biden shunned him and supported protests against Netanyahu’s judicial reform, fueling internal Israeli divisions.
Biden still hopes to pull a Saudi- Israeli deal together. He may succeed, but Israel would have to accept a Palestinian state, and the threat of terror. And Biden is not talking about the possibility of a nuclear Iran.
At this stage, Israel has three choices.
One: it can press ahead into Rafah, hoping Biden will not follow through with his threats.
Two: it can change governments, hoping Biden is friendlier to someone who is not named Netanyahu.
Three: Israel can wait until the American elections are over in hopes that Trump will replace Biden, or that Biden, who is no longer feared by Hamas supporters, will finally contribute to Israel’s victory, as he should have done so.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor- at- Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p. m. to 10 p. m. ET ( 4 p. m. to 7 p. m. PT ). He is the author of the recent e- book,” The Zionist Conspiracy ( and how to join it )”, now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e- book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U. S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
