OpEd: Biden Administration Ties Israel’s Hands Behind Its Back

By Steve Kramer

KFAR SABA, Israel — In December 1941, after the Japanese perpetrated a sneak attack on the US Navy and its sailors at Pearl Harbor, the US should have gone into full defense mode and not attacked Japan. Sound crazy? Yes. But that response is what Presidential candidate Kamala Harris said in one of her first interviews on Tuesday, Sept. 17. She repeated her and President Biden’s mantra for Israel just to defend itself in response to the heinous Oct. 7 massacre, when the Hamas terrorist organization murdered more than a 1,200 Israelis in their communities as well as at a “peace” concert adjacent to Gaza, while taking 251 hostages (many of them have subsequently been murdered in captivity).

The administration acknowledges that Israel has a right to self-defense (thanks for that) but too many “innocent” Palestinians have been killed. We all know that Palestinian-Arab “authorities” have told us, “more than 42,000 innocents have been killed by wanton Israeli warfare and that none of them were terrorists.” Never mind that many of the “innocents” were terrorists, many more were supporters of Hamas, and any civilians who were killed were human shields, a diabolical war crime that ensures many civilian casualties. This is the atrocious Hamas strategy of making the Gazans into the first line of defense for Hamas terrorists (human shields).

So, who’s to blame for the many casualties in Gaza? Hamas, fully backed by the Iranian mullahs. Nevertheless far too many Israelis have been conned into thinking that Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu is responsible for Palestinian deaths. Who has convinced them of this slander, besides Israeli and international mass media? Both Bibi’s political opponents and political operatives in Western countries, including the US. (The tactic of exploiting the many dead Gazans was espoused by Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas mastermind behind Oct. 7.)

Whether you happen to hate Bibi or not, the blame for thousands of deaths is squarely on Hamas and its backer Iran. In fact, Iran is responsible for the mayhem throughout the Middle East. But little pressure is put on Iran, which remains intransigent. Instead, democratic Israel is the country subjected to intense pressure by the world to give in and give up.

Vice President Harris also said during her interview that she approves President Biden’s decision to block the supply to Israel of certain offensive weapons, especially 2,000-pound bombs, which would enable Israel to wipe out terrorists with fewer casualties among Palestinian non-combatants. Consequently, the IDF must use more devastating armaments to achieve the same purpose. Germany and the UK are also complicit in this shortsighted tactic of denying weapons, hindering Israel’s mission to eradicate Hamas’s terror regime.

Both Biden and Harris have repeatedly ignored the facts, attested to by military experts, that Israel’s IDF troops are responsible for far fewer deaths, maybe the lowest ratio ever, among civilians in this type of urban warfare. Israel’s critics continue to say “too many,” blaming Israel when it is entirely the strategy of Iran-Hamas to have as many Gazans dead as possible. Blame Hamas! Blame Iran!

Presidential candidate Harris also opined in her interview that Hamas terrorists should be rewarded (my words) for their perfidy by being given a “state” (the woeful 2-state solution) which would be a bona fide UN member and maybe even an American “ally” (the last part are my words again). According to the administration, the key to a peaceful resolution of this whole mess is a cease-fire, the sooner the better. Weren’t the Palestinian Arabs given the territory of Gaza lock, stock, and barrel in 2005 when Israel withdrew every Israeli, leaving behind valuable agricultural infrastructure? Yes.

By the way, please make a list of all the successful Arab countries. ……. answer: none. (Some of the Arab monarchies are partially successful, but civil rights are lacking by Western standards.)

Israel is asked to accept a ceasefire with Gaza. But wasn’t there already a cease-fire on Oct. 6, 2023, the day before Hamas blew up the entire region? Yes. Why would another cease-fire with terrorists be effective now given the numerous, previous attacks on Israel from Gaza? In addition, there is the even bigger enemy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, for Israel to deal with. It too is a creature of the Iranian mullahs, which is responsible for the flight of 60,000 Israelis from their homes in Israel’s north, near the border with Lebanon.

Unfortunately, peace is not imminent. With the warfare in Gaza diminishing, Israel is aiming its powerful offense against a very potent Hezbollah. Of course, Hezbollah is Iran’s most powerful and important proxy, much more so than Hamas. Israel, which has absorbed thousands of rocket attacks from the north, will be taxed to the utmost in combatting Hezbollah, not to mention the Houthis, the Iraqis, and many Syrians, as well as Palestinian Arabs in Judea and Samaria (West Bank).

During WW2 the US was the primary opponent of Japan and the linchpin of the victory over the Germans. Both countries were occupied by Americans (and some of its allies) after the war. They succeeded to turn both countries into Western allies. We can’t expect that to happen here in the Middle East unless the Iranian Islamist regime is wiped out. Israel probably can’t accomplish that on its own.

This war of Israel against the jihadists is nearly one year in duration, with no quick conclusion expected. It could have ended successfully a while ago if our primary ally, the US, hadn’t tied our hands and slowed our offensive, while simultaneously  funding Iran. [see Note] The present American administration and other Western countries still don’t comprehend that Israel is fighting Iran and its proxies not just for herself, but it’s the first Western target of Iran’s mullahs with the rest of the West to follow. Yes, America is supporting our efforts, but with many strings attached, and it is withholding critical, needed materiel. The UK and Germany are also withholding materiel, seemingly unaware that their countries are also being undermined by the Iranian mullahs as Israel battles on.

It will take a powerful offense, more than a strong defense, to effect regime change in Iran. Yet the US still forestalls Israel’s required victory. The way to a victory for the West isn’t to tie Israel’s hands behind its back by withholding necessary weapons. Instead the US and its allies must enable Israel to gain the required victory over Iran and its proxy armies in Lebanon. The US can do this by emulating the stature that it showed in leading the West to victory 80 years ago during WW2.

Note: NOT JUST $6 BILLION: “According to The Daily Signal’s calculations, Iran has received approximately $71.02 billion more under President Biden than it would have under President Trump. Biden repeatedly has said that there is no ‘specific evidence’ showing that Tehran had any involvement in the Hamas terrorist attack, but Iran has funded Hamas for years.”

*
Steve Kramer is an American Israeli residing in Kfar Saba, Israel.