With a barely acceptable news conference at the NATO summit, President Joe Biden may or may not have temporarily quenched the Democrats’ revolt to remove him from office.
But his remarks about the Israel-Hamas conflict were a shame. Their entire tone was negative of Israel, with nary a syllable defending our friend or condemning Hamas. He has again failed to make firm demands for the release of US hostages held by terrorists.
And, at a time when antisemitism is skyrocketing, the president failed to set a moral example against this disgusting and destructive bigotry. Combined with Biden’s frequently unhelpful interference in Israeli war plans and his embarrassing sponsorship of a pier for humanitarian aid, which proved to be a complete disaster, Biden has impeded resolving the conflict following a fitting show of support for Israel that ended a week after Hamas’ barbaric attack on October 7.
Biden’s opening address on Gaza was brief, with only five lines on returning hostages home and a sweeping assertion that “this war …should end now.” It was as if the issue was with the “war” itself, rather than Hamas’ wickedness and use of human shields while brutalizing innocent hostages.
Later, NPR’s Asma Khalid asked Biden if there was anything he wished he had done differently during the conflict.
Biden’s immediate response was to discuss all of his collaboration with Arab colleagues to bring “more aid and medicine into the Gaza Strip.” How about the need to annihilate Hamas? Not one word. However, he did manage to criticize Israel immediately away, stating that it had been “less than cooperative” with supplies, even though its army pleaded with Egypt to open its border to aid vehicles and assisted in the establishment of supply corridors within Gaza.
Then Biden launched into a pro forma statement about how long he reportedly has supported Israel, which was promptly followed by a “but.” The “but” here was that “This war Cabinet is one of the most conservative war Cabinets in Israel’s history.” And there’s no other option than a two-state solution here.”
Biden should not be concerned about the composition of Israel’s war cabinet. There are various alternatives to establishing a Palestinian state. They include the eradication of Hamas.
Then came this: “The question has been raised from the start: what happens the next day in Gaza? And the day after in Gaza has to be — the end of the day after, there has to be no occupation by Israel on the Gaza Strip, as well as the ability for us to access — go in and out, as quickly as you can, anything that’s needed there.”
Biden claimed that the issue is the “occupation by Israel,” not that terrorists want to erase Israel off the map and kill all of its people. Or that Hamas steals humanitarian aid and uses it to kill innocent people.
According to washingtonexaminer, Biden did not even stop there. He commended himself for urging “Bibi” (notice the lack of formal respect) not to commit the mistake of occupying territory. Then, returning to the concept that Israel is doing everything wrong, he continued, “So, there’s a lot of things that, in retrospect, I wish I had been able to persuade the Israelis to do.” But, ultimately, we have a shot. It’s time to put an end to this battle.
He later stated that Israel could continue to pursue Hamas after the battle was over. Our egotistical president continued by saying, as if it were the most important point of all, that “my numbers are better in Israel than they are here.”