Joe Biden just got some rather bad news from Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
Even with immense pressure being applied by Dems, Netanyahu has announced that he will not end the war even if he does conduct a cease-fire to have hostages released.
Talking Points…
- Pressure on Netanyahu to end war
- Netanyahu responds
- Analysis
As Israel was discussing invading Rafah, there was more and more pressure being applied to Prime Minister Netanyahu to call for a permanent cease-fire. To this point, Netanyahu had been adamant that this war would only be over when Israel ended Hamas.
In April, Joe Biden reached out to Netanyahu to squeeze him on this issue. This war has been a complete and utter disaster for Biden, who is now leaking millennial support specifically because of Israel. Biden needs this war to end before the election so as not to impact him with the younger vote that he has been working so hard to win by forgiving millions in student loans.
During the April call, Biden reportedly pushed Netanyahu on the cease-fire as well as providing more aid to Gaza. The most Netanyahu would even consider, however, was a prolonged cease-fire of about six weeks if all of the remaining hostages were released, but that was it. There would be no end to this war until Hamas was ended.
I doubt anyone would say that Hamas is winning this war. Since the October 7 invasion of Israel, this war has been all Israel, with Hamas scrambling for cover. In several interviews, Hamas leadership seemed to be surprised that Israel had responded this way and was continuing its efforts to end Hamas.
With more pressure mounting against Israel to end the war, Netanyahu finally responded by publicly addressing the situation. On Sunday, he stated:
“Israel has been, and still is, ready for a pause in the fighting in order to free our hostages.
“…The State of Israel is not willing to accept this. We are not willing to accept a situation in which Hamas’s battalions leave their tunnels, reestablish control over the Strip, rebuild their military industries and go back to threatening the citizens of Israel in the communities of the Western Negev, the cities of the south and throughout the country. In such a case, the next October 7 would only be a matter of time. Hamas would be able to realize its promise to carry out repeated massacres, rapes and abductions.”
He concluded:
“[But] Israel will not agree to Hamas’s demands, which would mean surrender; it will continue fighting until all of its objectives are achieved.”
This stance by Netanyahu is going to put immense pressure on Biden by his fellow Democrats to block aid for Israel until Netanyahu agrees to end this war, but I think that would be a mistake. We have all seen what happens when you allow even a small number of terrorists to go free, as they continue to recruit, eventually grow in number, and strike again.
This is Israel’s war, and Biden needs to step back and allow Israel to fight the war as it sees fit. After 9/11, none of our allies stepped in to tell us to back off ISIS, not that we would have listened anyway. If we allow Hamas to live on, it will be a catastrophic mistake. Let Israel finish the job. If Biden was truly worried about the state of the world rather than the upcoming election, that is what he would do here.
