The Biden administration has been taking severe criticism from the far-left members of the party for its support of Israel during its war with Hamas.
Initially, Biden expressed unwavering support for Israel, but that has changed rather dramatically over the last week, which included a warning by Secretary of State Blinken to Israel on the resumption of the war.
On October 7, Hamas attacked Israel in what most are calling a terrorist attack. Israel vowed this would be the start of a war that would not end until Hamas was completely destroyed.
Americans were stunned by the reports coming out of Israel regarding the hostages and murder of innocent civilians, including children.
Joe Biden came out firmly supporting Israel, stating:
"Today the people of Israel are under attack orchestrated by a terrorist organization, Hamas.
"In this moment of tragedy, I want to say to them and to the world, and to terrorists everywhere, that the United States stands with Israel. We will not ever fail to have their back. We'll make sure that they have the help their citizens need and they can continue to defend themselves."
When Squad members came out with pro-Palestinian comments, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated there was only one side to this war, which was to support Israel.
She stated:
"Look, I've seen some of those statements this weekend and we are going to continue to be very clear, we believe they are wrong. We believe they are repugnant and we believe they are disgraceful.
"Our condemnation belongs squarely with terrorists who have brutally murdered, raped, and kidnapped hundreds - hundreds of Israelis. There can be no equivocation about that. There are not two sides here, there are not two sides."
One of the main strategies of Hamas is to hide among innocent civilians, setting up bases in areas such as hospitals and schools to deter counter-attacks.
Hamas has done that during this war with a complex underground tunnel system that travels below hospitals and civilian housing.
Israel has done an amazing job of warning residents and avoiding civilian casualties, but the very nature of this type of war means that innocent lives will be lost. I am not justifying or criticizing this, I am just stating it as fact.
Secretary of State Blinken just made his fourth trip to Israel since the war started, this time issuing a warning to Israel.
Blinken stated:
"I made clear that before Israel resumed major military operations, it must put in place humanitarian civilian protection plans that minimize further casualties of innocent Palestinians.
"That means taking more effective steps to protect the lives of civilians, including by clearly and precisely designating areas in places in southern and central Gaza where they can be safe and out of the line of fire."
Joe Biden also made comments and posted them on X, saying that a continued war would be playing into Hamas' hands, and he would not allow that to happen.
Those comments were interpreted as Joe Biden pushing to have the current cease-fire permanent to try to work out a diplomatic solution.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, however, was quite clear that while he was willing to extend the cease-fire to have more hostages released, come Sunday, all bets were off.
He added:
"We are going to fight Hamas till we prevail, no matter how long it takes.
"It's a just war. It's a war to end Hamas, the ISIS of Gaza. And it's a war to bring the hostages back home — as long as it takes."
Joe Biden has put himself in an unwinnable position by wavering like this.
He seems to be cowering to a tiny percentage that wants a cease-fire simply because they are the loudest and most aggressive in terms of saying they will pull their support for his re-election if they do not get their way.
Moderates and independents may not make a lot of noise, but they mainly support Israel, so Joe Biden will lose support no matter what he does at this point.
The other aspect of this is how much relations with Israel will be harmed because of this new stance being taken by the Biden administration.
Remember, when Obama left office, there were clearly tensions between Israel and the United States, tensions the Trump administration worked very hard to decrease.
I would wager to say the bond between Israel and the United States was as strong as it had been in recent history when Trump left office, and now Biden has put that all at risk again.
