Joe Biden has been trying to influence the Israelis for months, albeit behind the scenes. We’re not attuned to his superb grasp of foreign policy, which has been so successful in these talks that we know almost everything about this circus. The president couldn’t sway the Israelis, which led to threats of US support being pulled from Israel over this operation in Hamas’ last stronghold in Gaza.
Biden was a targeted dismantling of the terror group. Israel is preparing to go in heavy, something the president doesn’t want over civilian casualty concerns. The IDF has been warning Palestinian civilians to leave for days. They’ve also offered Hamas ceasefire agreements for months, all of which were rejected by the terror group. Now, we’re withholding military aid as the IDF starts the initial phase of the Rafah operation.
Humiliated on all fronts, Biden is offering the Israelis vital intelligence on Hamas hideouts for Israel to construct targeted strike packages, with promises of aid that would be allocated to help shelter, clothe, and feed the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians that will be dislodged during the ground war (via WaPo):
The Biden administration, working urgently to stave off a full-scale Israeli invasion of Rafah, is offering Israel valuable assistance if it holds back, including sensitive intelligence to help the Israeli military pinpoint the location of Hamas leaders and find the group’s hidden tunnels, according to four people familiar with the U.S. offers.
American officials have also offered to help provide thousands of shelters so Israel can build tent cities — and to help with the construction of delivery systems for food, water and medicine — so that Palestinians evacuated from Rafah can have a habitable place to live, said the officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to disclose secret diplomatic talks.
President Biden and his senior aides have been making such offers over the last several weeks in hopes they will persuade Israel to conduct a more limited and targeted operation in the southern Gaza city, where some 1.3 million Palestinians are sheltering after fleeing there from other parts of Gaza under Israeli orders. Israel has vowed to go into Rafah with “extreme force,” and this week Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took a number of steps that raised fears at the White House that the long-promised invasion could be materializing.
Administration officials, including experts from the U.S. Agency for International Development, have told Israel it will take several months to safely relocate hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who are now living in decrepit and unsanitary conditions in Rafah. Israeli officials disagree with that assessment.
Biden aides are stressing to their Israeli counterparts that Palestinians cannot simply be moved to barren or bombarded parts of Gaza, but that Israel must provide basic infrastructure — including shelter, food, water, medicine and other necessities — so that those who are evacuated will have livable conditions and not simply be exposed to additional famine or disease.
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The US also tried to hash out a ceasefire deal in Cairo, where Biden officials and the director of the CIA tried to cobble something together without telling the Israelis. That diplomatic avenue got blown up when Hamas jumped the gun and agreed to the deal, which was rejected by Israel hours later. It was intentional: Hamas has done well convincing the Left that Israel is the aggressing party. The failed Cairo deal has further inflamed tensions between Washington and Jerusalem. Biden has tried to play both sides in this war. Why should Israel heed these calls if intelligence is offered as a sweetener? It’s information Mossad and Shin Bet probably already have. If not, then Biden is withholding aid and intelligence from a key ally. It's bad all-around but on par for this president.
So Biden is now withholding military aid AND valuable intelligence from the Israelis during their war against genocidal terrorists who murdered a bunch of Americans & are still holding American hostages. Surreal. https://t.co/fUk8LeWPdt
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) May 12, 2024
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