Joe Biden’s History with Israel & Jews
Joe Biden has made a habit of describing himself as a loyal, stalwart friend and ally of Israel. At a campaign stop in March 2020, for instance, he declared: “I’m so proud of the Obama-Biden administration’s unprecedented support for Israel’s security.” But a careful examination of Biden’s track record reveals his long and extremely troubling history of undermining Israel’s security and public image.
1982: Biden’s Angry Exchange with Menachem Begin
At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting on June 22, 1982, an animated Senator Biden, banging the desk in front of him with his fist, warned then-Prime Minister Menachem Begin that if Israel did not stop establishing new Jewish settlements in the West Bank, U.S. aid to that country might be cut off.
Begin responded forcefully:
Don’t threaten us with cutting off your aid. It will not work. I am not a Jew with trembling knees. I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of civilized history. Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. Nobody came to our aid when we were striving to create our country. We paid for it. We fought for it. We died for it. We will stand by our principles. We will defend them. And, when necessary, we will die for them again, with or without your aid.
And with regard to Biden’s theatrical furniture-banging, Begin said:
This desk is designed for writing, not for fists. Don’t threaten us with slashing aid. Do you think that because the U.S. lends us money it is entitled to impose on us what we must do? We are grateful for the assistance we have received, but we are not to be threatened. I am a proud Jew. Three thousand years of culture are behind me, and you will not frighten me with threats. Take note: we do not want a single soldier of yours to die for us.
1995-2020: Biden’s Stance on the Relocation of the U.S. Embassy in Israel
Biden voted for the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, which recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and required the U.S. president to relocate the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, though the law allowed the president to waive the move every six months if he believed that a delay would further the interests of national security.
When he ran for vice president with Barack Obama in 2008, Biden said: “I think we should move the embassy, but you don’t have a [Israeli] government asking us to move the embassy there. Let them make the judgment.”
Throughout the eight years that followed, the Obama-Biden administration never even hinted that it might contemplate relocating the U.S. embassy. Indeed, the administration refused even to affirm that Jerusalem was Israel’s capital. For example, in March 2012, an Obama-Biden State Department spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, told a gathering of journalists: “With regard to our Jerusalem policy, it’s a permanent-status issue. It’s got to be resolved through the negotiations between the parties…. We are not going to prejudge the outcome of those negotiations, including the final status of Jerusalem….. [O]ur embassy, as you know, is located in Tel Aviv.”
When Donald Trump announced in December 2017 that he not only recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital but also planned to move the embassy to that city, Biden remained silent. Nor did he issue a statement when the embassy was actually physically relocated in May 2018. More recently, in a November 2019 interview with PBS, Biden was asked if he, as president, would reverse Trump’s move. He replied: “Not now. I wouldn’t reverse it. I wouldn’t have done it in the first place.”
2009-2017: The Obama-Biden Administration’s Strained Relationship with Israel
No American presidential administration ever had so strained a relationship with Israel as did Obama-Biden. As Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren said in 2010, “Israel’s ties with the United States are in their worst crisis since 1975 … a crisis of historic proportions.” Author and scholar Dennis Prager concurred, “Most observers, right or left, pro-Israel or anti-Israel, would agree that Israeli-American relations are the worst they have been in memory.” In the spring of 2011, David Parsons, spokesman for the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, lamented that the “traditional, special relationship between America and Israel” was being thrown “out the window in a sense.” And in October 2012, Israeli lawmaker Danny Danon, chairman of Likud’s international outreach branch, said that the Obama administration’s policies vis-a-vis Israel had been “catastrophic.”
2010: The Obama-Biden Administration Criticizes Israeli Settlements
While Vice President Biden was visiting Israel in March 2010, a Jerusalem municipal office announced plans to build some 1,600 housing units for Jews in a section of that city. In response, Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that this development “endangers regional peace” in the Middle East. In a separate statement, Biden added, “I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem,” calling it “precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now” for constructive peace talks.
Ten days later, Netanyahu traveled to Washington in an effort to put the U.S.-Israel relationship back on more solid footing, but as the Wall Street Journal reported, the prime minister “was snubbed at a White House meeting with President Obama — no photo op, no joint statement, and he was sent out through a side door.” Washington Post columnist and Middle East expert Jackson Diehl wrote that “Netanyahu is being treated as if he were an unsavory Third World dictator.” And ambassador Michael Oren called Israel’s rift with America “the worst with the U.S. in 35 years.”
2010-2015: The Obama-Biden Administration’s Repeated Leaks to the Press About Israel
In 2010, the Obama-Biden administration – determined to do everything in its power to turn public opinion against a possible Israeli military strike targeting Iranian nuclear facilities – leaked information about a covert deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia, whereby the Saudis had agreed that they would allow Israel to use their airspace in order to wage an attack against Iran and its nuclear facilities.
On March 22, 2012, the Obama-Biden administration leaked to The New York Times the results of a classified war game which predicted that an Israeli strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities could lead to a wider regional war and result in hundreds of American deaths. Institute for National Security Studies analyst Yoel Guzansky interpreted the motives behind the Obama-Biden leaks as follows: “It seems like a big campaign to prevent Israel from attacking. I think the [Obama-Biden] administration is really worried Jerusalem will attack and attack soon. They’re trying hard to prevent it in so many ways.” In a May 29, 2012 column in the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, longtime defense commentator Ron Ben-Yishai noted that the leaks would “make it more difficult for Israeli decision-makers to order the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] to carry out a strike, and what’s even graver, [would] erode the IDF’s capacity to launch such strike with minimal casualties.”
On April 8, 2012, the New Yorker reported that according to information leaked by the Obama-Biden administration, the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad was helping to fund and train the Iranian opposition group Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK). This revelation was intended to portray Israel as being unwilling to negotiate in good faith with the government in Tehran, and to thereby undermine any moral authority that Israel might claim in the event of a future military strike against Iran.
In early May 2013, two Obama-Biden administration officials leaked classified information to the media indicating that Israel was behind a May 3rd airstrike against a shipment of advanced surface-to-surface missiles at the airport in Damascus, Syria. Israeli security analysts said that the leak could not only endanger any Israeli agents who were still on the ground in Syria, but could also increase the likelihood that Syrian President Bashar Assad would retaliate against the Jewish state. Again, the purpose of the leak was to paint Israel as an unnecessarily aggressive, bellicose nation.
For similar purposes, in early November 2013 an Obama-Biden administration official leaked to CNN the fact that Israeli warplanes had attacked a Syrian base in the port of Latakia. The planes were specifically targeting Russian-made SA-8 Gecko Dgreen mobile missiles, so as to prevent their delivery to the terrorist organization Hezbollah. Israeli officials called the leak “scandalous” and “unthinkable.”
In January 2015, the Obama-Biden administration — which opposed the notion of imposing any new economic sanctions against the Iranian regime — leaked information indicating that an unnamed Mossad official had recently acknowledged that the enactment of such sanctions would be akin to “throwing a grenade into the [nuclear negotiation] process.” The leak’s implication was that the Mossad official was privately opposed to sanctions. But approximately 12 hours later, that official – Mossad leader Tamir Pardo – stepped forth and, by means of a written statement issued by his office, clarified exactly what he had said and meant:
Contrary to what has been reported, the head of the Mossad did not say that he opposes imposing additional sanctions on Iran…. Regarding the reported reference to ‘throwing a grenade,’ the head of the Mossad did not use this expression regarding the imposition of sanctions, which he believes to be the sticks necessary for reaching a good deal with Iran. He used this expression as a metaphor to describe the possibility of creating a temporary crisis in the negotiations, at the end of which talks would resume under improved conditions.
2013: The Obama-Biden Administration’s Secret Negotiations with Iran
In early November 2013, it was reported that the Obama-Biden administration had begun softening U.S. sanctions against Iran (vis-a -vis the latter’s nuclear program) soon after the election, five months earlier, of that country’s new president, Hassan Rouhani. This move set the stage, in turn, for the United States — in conjunction with Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany — to propose a short-term “first step agreement” with Iran at a November meeting in Geneva. The deal, which sought to freeze Iran’s nuclear program for approximately six months in order to create an opportunity for a more comprehensive and lasting bargain to be negotiated later, required Iran to stop enriching uranium to a weapons-grade level, to refrain for six months from activating its plutonium reactor at Arak, and to stop using its most advanced and powerful centrifuges. “In return,” said the London Telegraph, “America would ease economic sanctions, possibly by releasing some Iranian foreign exchange reserves currently held in frozen accounts. In addition, some restrictions affecting Iran’s petrochemical, motor and precious metals industries could be relaxed.”
On November 8, 2013, the Israeli government, which the Obama-Biden administration had not informed of the negotiations, was stunned to learn of the secret talks with Iran. News of the agreement led to the canceling of a joint media appearance between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. One Israeli official was quoted saying that “the Iranians are leading the Americans by the nose.”
Netanyahu, outraged at the prospect of this agreement, said that the Iranians “got everything … they wanted” – most notably “relief from sanctions after years of a grueling sanctions regime” – “and paid nothing.” “It’s the deal of a century for Iran,” Natanyahu added, “it’s a very dangerous and bad deal for peace and the international community.”
Eventually, this 2013 agreement would evolve into the famous Iran Nuclear Deal of 2015 – officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – where the Obama-Biden administration joined the governments of Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany in signing an accord with Iran.
2014: The Obama-Biden Administration Threatens to Shoot Down Israeli Fighter Jets
In 2014, not long after Israel had discovered that the U.S. and Iran had been involved in the aforementioned secret negotiations regarding Iran’s nuclear program, the Netanyahu government prepared a military operation designed to destroy that program. The Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida reported that when an unnamed Israeli minister revealed the attack plan to Secretary of State John Kerry, President Obama threatened to shoot down the Israeli jets before they could get within striking distance of their targets in Iran.
2014: The Obama-Biden Administration Tells Israel to Stop Assassinating Iranian Nuclear Scientists
On March 3, 2014, the Associated Press reported that the Obama-Biden administration had told Israeli authorities to stop their targeted killings of Iranian nuclear scientists. According to AP: “Israel’s Mossad spy agency has supposedly taken out [mostly with car bombs] at least five top Iranian nuclear experts in an attempt to slow the country’s nuclear program … An unidentified U.S. official disclosed the program to CBS while claiming [that] the … administration is leaning on its Middle Eastern ally to stop the targeted killings and wait for the current deal to disarm to play out.”
2015: The Obama-Biden Administration Is Enraged by Netanyahu’s Acceptance of John Boehner’s Invitation to Address Congress
On January 21, 2015, Republican House Speaker John Boehner invited Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who was strongly opposed to the emerging U.S. agreement with Iran regarding the latter’s nuclear program, to speak (on March 3) to a joint session of Congress about the security threat posed by Iran. In response to Boehner’s action, an outraged Obama-Biden administration accused the House Speaker of having violated “protocol” by extending the invitation on his own initiative instead of asking the executive branch to extend an invitation.
When it was subsequently announced that Obama would not be meeting personally with Netanyahu during the latter’s March 3rd visit, the president offered this explanation: “We don’t meet with any world leader two weeks before their election. I think that’s inappropriate.” “As a matter of long-standing practice and principle,” added White House officials, “we do not see heads of state or candidates in close proximity to their elections,” so as to “avoid the appearance of influencing a democratic election in a foreign country.”
The Obama-Biden administration also urged members of the Congressional Black Caucus to boycott Netanyahu’s speech, and to speak out against it publicly as well. Vice President Joe Biden, for his part, vowed to skip the speech.
In early February 2015, it was learned that the Obama-Biden White House’s tale of having been blindsided by Boehner and Netanyahu was a lie. This was made evident by a correction added to a New York Times article that stated: “Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel accepted Speaker John A. Boehner’s invitation to address Congress. He accepted after the [Obama-Biden] administration had been informed of the invitation, not before.”
Also in February 2015, it was learned that the Obama-Biden administration’s claim that its decision not to meet with Netanyahu in Washington was based on a desire to avoid “inappropriate[ly]” influencing the upcoming Israeli election, was also a lie. This was evidenced by the fact that during the weekend of February 7-8, Vice President Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry traveled to Munich, Germany to meet with Israeli Labor leader Isaac Herzog, Netanyahu’s opponent in the election.
2015: Declassification of a Document Revealing Israel’s Nuclear Program
In early February 2015, – when the Obama-Biden administration was enraged by the recent announcement that Prime Minister Netanyahu would soon be addressing a joint session of the U.S. Congress regarding Iran’s nuclear program — the Pentagon quietly declassified a top-secret, 386-page Defense Department document from 1987 containing extensive details of Israel’s nuclear program. The document was entitled “Critical Technological Assessment in Israel and NATO Nations.” As the Israel National News (INN) explained, the Jewish state’s nuclear program was “a highly covert topic that Israel has never formally announced [so as] to avoid a regional nuclear arms race, and which the U.S. until now has respected by remaining silent [about it].” Added INN: “[A] highly suspicious aspect of the document is that while the Pentagon saw fit to declassify sections on Israel’s sensitive nuclear program, it kept sections on Italy, France, West Germany and other NATO countries classified, with those sections blocked out in the document.”
2015-2018: Biden & The Iran Nuclear Deal
On July 14, 2015, the Obama-Biden administration – along with the leaders of Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany – together finalized a nuclear agreement with Iran. The key elements of the deal were as follows:
- Iran would be permitted to keep some 5,060 centrifuges, one-third of which would continue to spin in perpetuity.
- Iran would receive $150 billion in sanctions relief – “some portion” of which, according to Obama-Biden National Security Adviser Susan Rice, “we should expect … would go to the Iranian military and could potentially be used for the kinds of bad behavior that we have seen in the region up until now.”
- Russia and China would be permitted to continue to supply Iran with weapons.
- Iran would have the discretion to block international inspectors from military installations and would be given 14 days’ notice for any request to visit any site.
- Only inspectors from countries possessing diplomatic relations with Iran would be given access to Iranian nuclear sites; thus there would be no American inspectors.
- The embargo on the sale of weapons to Iran would be officially lifted in 5 years.
- Iran’s intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program would remain intact and unaffected; indeed it was never even discussed as an issue in the negotiations.
- The heavy water reactor in Arak and the underground nuclear facility in Fordo would remain open, violating the “red lines” that Obama had repeatedly cited.
- Iran would not be required to disclose information about its past nuclear research and development.
- The U.S. would provide technical assistance to help Iran develop its nuclear program, supposedly for peaceful domestic purposes.
- Sanctions would lifted on critical parts of Iran’s military, including a previously existing travel ban against Qasem Suleimani, leader of the terrorist Quds force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
- Iran would not be required to release American prisoners like Iranian-American Christian missionary Saeed Abedini, Iranian-American Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, or U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati.
- The U.S. and its five negotiating partner nations would provide Iranian nuclear leaders with training courses and workshops designed to strengthen their ability to prevent and respond to threats to their nuclear facilities and systems.
- Iran would not be required to renounce terrorism against the United States, as the Obama-Biden administration deemed such an expectation to be “unrealistic.”
- Iran would not be required to affirm its “clear and unambiguous … recognition of Israel’s right to exist” – a requirement that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had pleaded for. As Obama-Biden State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said, “This is an agreement that is only about the nuclear issue … [and] doesn’t deal with any other issues, nor should it.” Similarly, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said “we do not see a need that both sides recognize this position [accepting Israel’s right to exist] as part of the final agreement.”
- Whatever restrictions were placed on Iran’s nuclear program, would begin to expire – due to so-called “sunset clauses” – at various times over the ensuing 5 to 26 years. Specifically: the ban on Iranian arms exports would expire in 2020; the ban on Iran’s manufacture of advanced centrifuges would begin to expire in 2023; unilateral or multilateral nuclear sanctions against Iran would become extremely difficult to re-impose after 2023; the cap of 5,060 IR-1 centrifuges at Iran’s Natanz facility would expire in 2026; and restrictions on the number and types of centrifuges and enrichment facilities operated by Iran, would expire in 2031.
Joe Biden took on the role of being the administration’s leading public promoter of the Iran deal. He casually dismissed the concerns of critics – most notably Netanyahu – who warned that the sunset clauses for key parts of the agreement would “pave Iran’s path to a bomb.” Those people, Biden said, simply “don’t get it, they’re wrong.”
2017-2020: Biden Opposes Trump’s Withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Deal
After President Trump decided to pull America out of the Iran nuclear deal, Biden characterized Trump’s strategy as “a self-inflicted disaster” that would make “military conflict” and “another war in the Middle East” much “more likely.”
During a January 2020 presidential campaign event, Biden called on Trump to rejoin the Iran agreement. “The seeds of danger were planted by Donald Trump himself on May 8, 2019 — the day he tore up the Iran Nuclear Deal,” said Biden, forgetting that the date on which the U.S. withdrew from the agreement was actually May 8, 2018. Biden added that Trump had “turned his back on our closest European allies” by selfishly “decid[ing] that it was important to destroy any progress that the Obama-Biden administration did.”
2015: The Obama-Biden Administration Criticizes Netanyahu for Seeming to Abandon Support for a Two-State Solution
The Obama-Biden administration was angered in March 2015 when Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, late in his re-election campaign, told the Israeli news outlet Maariv that he would not allow the creation of a Palestinian state on his watch — a position which Obama-Biden viewed as a shift away from Netanyahu’s previous assertion (in 2009) that his “vision of peace” included “two free peoples” — i.e., Israelis and Palestinians — living in separate, independent, adjacent states. Responding to Netanyahu, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said: “The prime minister’s recent statements call into question his commitment to a two-state solution. We’re not going to prejudge what we would do if there was a U.N. action” — implying that Obama-Biden might depart from America’s customary practice of vetoing United Nations Security Council resolutions opposed by Israel.
Netanyahu subsequently clarified that he remained open to a two-state solution, but only if “the Palestinian leadership [would agree] to abandon their pact with Hamas and engage in genuine negotiations with Israel.” Notwithstanding the prime minister’s clarification, White House spokesman Josh Earnest stated that “[w]ords matter” and that there could be “consequences” for Netanyahu’s initial remarks in this instance.
2016: Biden Publicly Ridicules Israel After a Terrorist Bombing Wounds 21 Jews
Just a few hours after an April 18, 2016 terrorist bus bombing in Jerusalem had wounded at least 21 people, Vice President Biden delivered a speech to the Israel advocacy group J Street, an organization that traces the Mideast conflict chiefly to the notion that “Israel’s settlements in the occupied territories have, for [many] years, been an obstacle to peace.” In the course of his talk, Biden said: “I firmly believe that the actions that Israel’s government has taken over the past several years — the steady and systematic expansion of settlements, the legalization of outposts, land seizures — they’re moving us, and, more importantly, they’re moving Israel in the wrong direction.” “The present course Israel’s on is not one that’s likely to secure its existence as a Jewish, democratic state,” Biden added. Conversely, he singled out for praise a young left-wing member of Israel’s parliament, Stav Shaffir, who was a harsh critic of Benjamin Netanyahu: “May your views begin to once again become the majority opinion in the Knesset,” Biden said to Shaffir.
2016: The Obama-Biden Administration Urges Israel to Exercise “Restraint” in the Wake of Palestinian Terror Attack
In the immediate aftermath of a June 7, 2016 terrorist attack in which two Palestinian gunmen had shot nine Israelis (killing four) in a Tel Aviv shopping complex, the Obama-Biden State Department cautioned the Israeli government to “exercise restraint” in carrying out its vow to increase security control over the West Bank and its residents.
2016: The Obama-Biden Administration Again Condemns Israeli Settlements
In the summer of 2016, the Obama-Biden administration renewed its attacks against Israeli settlements. In what journalist and scholar Caroline Glick characterized as a “shockingly hostile assault” against Israel, the State Department issued the following statement:
We are deeply concerned by reports today that the government of Israel has published tenders for 323 units in East Jerusalem settlements. This follows Monday’s announcement of plans for 770 units in the settlement of Gilo. We strongly oppose settlement activity, which is corrosive to the cause of peace. These steps by Israeli authorities are the latest examples of what appears to be a steady acceleration of settlement activity that is systematically undermining the prospects for a two-state solution…. We are also concerned about recent increased demolitions of Palestinian structures in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which reportedly have left dozens of Palestinians homeless, including children…. This is part of an ongoing process of land seizures, settlement expansion, legalizations of outposts, and denial of Palestinian development that risk entrenching a one-state reality of perpetual occupation and conflict. We remain troubled that Israel continues this pattern of provocative and counter-productive action, which raises serious questions about Israel’s ultimate commitment to a peaceful, negotiated settlement with the Palestinians.
2016: The Obama-Biden Administration Abstains on U.N. Vote Regarding Israeli Settlements
On December 24, 2016, the Obama-Biden administration – in a major departure from traditional U.S. policy – abstained from voting on a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning the existence and construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The resolution also declared that all of eastern Jerusalem – including Judaism’s most sacred site, the Temple Mount – was “Palestinian territory” that was being illegally “occupied” by Israel in “a flagrant violation under international law.” The Obama-Biden abstention allowed this resolution to pass, prompting Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to condemn the administration’s “shameful betrayal.” “From the information that we have,” Netanyahu added, “we have no doubt that the Obama administration initiated [the abstention], stood behind it, coordinated on the wording, and demanded that it be passed.”
2019: Biden Draws a Moral Equivalence Between Israel & the Palestinians
During his current presidential campaign, Biden, drawing a moral equivalence between the Israelis and the Palestinians, has stated that “neither the Israeli nor Palestinian leadership seems willing to take the political risks necessary to make progress through direct negotiations.”
2019: Biden Reaches Out to J Street
In November 2019, Biden sent a video message conveying his support and friendship to a conference of the aforementioned organization J Street. One of the featured speakers at this conference was Osama Qawasma, a spokesman for the terrorist Fatah organization created by the late Yasser Arafat, mass murderer of Jews. Qawasma is also a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council; an advisor to the Palestinian Authority’s current anti-Semitic president, Mahmoud Abbas; and an opponent of “the American-Israeli attempts to denounce Hamas as terrorist.”
Another Islamic extremist who spoke at the J Street conference which Biden saluted was Saeb Erekat, Secretary-General of the PLO Executive Committee, who has openly defended Hamas and the funding of Islamic terrorists.
2019-2020: Biden Demands a Two-State Solution and Condemns the Israeli “Occupation”
Biden today maintains that “there’s no answer” to the Arab-Israeli conflict other than “a two-state solution,” adding that “I think the [Israeli] settlements are unnecessary.” Asked if he considers the “occupation” to be “a human rights crisis,” Biden replies, “I think occupation is a real problem, a significant problem.” He reaffirms that “I will insist on Israel, which I’ve done, to stop the occupation of those territories, period.”
2020: Biden Again Draws a Moral Equivalence Between Israel & the Palestinians
On March 1, 2020, Biden called on both Israelis and Palestinians “to work together to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, because it is a crisis.” “And we’re not going to achieve that future if we don’t condemn steps on both sides that take us further from peace,” he added. By Biden’s telling:
Palestinians need to eradicate incitement on the West Bank. Eradicate it. They need to end the rocket attacks from Gaza. Stop it. And Israel, I think, has to stop the threats of annexation and settlement activity, like the recent announcement to build thousands of settlements in E1 [an undeveloped area outside Jerusalem]. That’s going to choke off any hope for peace. And to be frank, those moves are taking Israel further from its democratic values, undermining support for Israel in the United States especially among young people in both political parties.
2020: Biden Dismisses Trump’s Mideast Peace Plan Without Even Reading It
When President Trump in February 2020 unveiled a new Mideast peace initiative, Biden, claiming to have “spent a lifetime working to advance the security and survival of a Jewish and democratic Israel,” characterized the plan as nothing more than “a political stunt that could spark unilateral moves to annex territory and set back peace even more.” He based his opinion not on having read the full plan, but on merely having read “some outline” of it.
2021: Biden Administration Warns Israel Against Attacking Iran’s Nuclear Program
On November 21, 2021, The New York Times reported that U.S. officials had warned Israel that while its attacks against the Iranian nuclear program — attacks that in the preceding 20 months had included four explosions at Iranian nuclear facilities as well as the targeted killing of Iran’s leading nuclear scientist — may have been “tactically satisfying,” they were “ultimately counterproductive.”
As the Times of Israel observed: “In the wake of [those] explosions, which took uranium enrichments plants offline and destroyed dozens of centrifuges, the Americans noted that Iran has managed to resume enrichment within months, often installing newer machines that can enrich uranium far faster. […] Further complicating matters was the fact that Iran has apparently managed to improve its defenses, particularly in the cyber field.”
2021: Biden Falsely Claims He Was a “Liaison” for Israel & Egypt During Six-Day War of 1967
During a menorah lighting celebration at the White House on December 1, 2021, Biden recounted a story about how he had met with Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, who allegedly had invited him to Israel as he prepared to serve as a liaison between the Jewish state and Egypt during the Six-Day War of 1967. Said Biden:
“I have known every — every prime minister, well, since Golda Meir, including Golda Meir. And during the Six-Day War, I had an opportunity to — she invited me to come over because I was going to be the liaison between she and the Egyptians about the Suez. And I sat in front of her desk, and she had a guy — her staff member — to my right. His name was Rabin. And she kept flipping those maps up and down. She had that bevy of maps — sort of kept it — and it was — it was so depressing what she was — about what happened. She gave me every detail.”
But Biden’s claim about having served as a liaison in 1967 was factually untrue. Not only was he not yet even a member of the U.S. Senate in 1967, but he was still in law school at the time. Nor was Golda Meir the Israeli prime minister in 1967.
Observers speculated that Biden had misspoken, and that he was actually referring to a meeting he had had with Meir several weeks prior to the Yom Kippur War of October 1973. But a classified Israeli memo summarizing Biden’s meeting with Meir painted a picture very different from the one offered by Biden, and it also called into question what Biden had meant by describing his role as that of a “liaison.” According to Fox News:
“The memo claims that Biden told Meir that the territories Israel had captured during the Six-Day War, which included West Bank and the Gaza Strip, amounted to ‘creeping annexation.’ Notes taken by an unnamed Israeli official in the meeting say that Biden told Meir that during talks in Cairo before he arrived in Israel, Egyptian officials had assured him that they accepted ‘Israel’s military superiority’ […] Biden used this contention to suggest that Israel was in a position to offer the Arabs unilateral concessions to promote peace. He tried to convince the prime minister to withdraw from areas of lesser strategic importance, a suggestion Meir rejected before lecturing the young senator about the problems Israel was facing in the region. Less than six weeks later, Meir’s fears were confirmed when Egypt and Syria attacked Israel.
“The memo also claims that Biden was highly critical of the Nixon administration during the meeting, accusing it of being ‘dragged by Israel’ while debate about the Middle East was bogged down in the Senate because lawmakers were fearful of offending Jewish voters.”
2023: Biden Administration’s Response to Deadly Hamas Attack Against Israel
At daybreak on October 7, 2023 — which was the major Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah — the Islamic terror group Hamas carried out a massive, multi-front, surprise attack against Israel, firing thousands of rockets from Gaza into the Jewish state, while dozens of Hamas fighters infiltrated the Israeli border in a number of locations by air, land and sea. The attack had been planned in conjunction with officers from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, along with agents of three other Iran-sponsored terrorist groups. “In an assault of startling breadth,” reported CBS News, “Hamas gunmen rolled into as many as 22 locations outside the Gaza Strip, including towns and other communities as far as 15 miles from the Gaza border. In some places they gunned down civilians and soldiers as Israel’s military scrambled to muster a response.” By October 8, at least 600 Israelis had been killed and 1,800 wounded, making it the bloodiest day Jews had experienced since the Holocaust. Moreover, Hamas took more than 240 Israelis hostage, including dozens who were American citizens, and moved them to the Gaza Strip. The terrorists also paraded Israelis’ mutilated bodies in Gaza, to cheering crowds of Palestinians. By October 19, the official casualty toll in Israel had reached more than 1,400 dead (including at least 32 Americans) and 4,500 injured.
The Biden regime’s initial response came via the U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs, which, on October 7, tweeted in Arabic: “The US Embassy is closely monitoring the security situation as a result of rockets being fired from Gaza through southern and central Israel, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and the infiltration of Hamas activists.” Shortly thereafter, the same U.S. Office followed up with the following statement: “We unequivocally condemn the attack of Hamas terrorists and the loss of life that has incurred. We urge all sides to refrain from violence and retaliatory attacks. Terror and violence solve nothing.” As Islam expert Robert Spencer subsequently noted: “In other words, Israel must not respond to the breaching of its borders and wholesale murder of its citizens. That would be a ‘retaliatory attack,’ and would solve nothing.”
On October 8, 2023 — the day after the Hamas terror attack had struck Israel — President Biden and the First Lady hosted a barbecue for White House Executive Residence staff and their families.
2023: Blinken Tells Benny Gantz That Israeli Settlers in West Bank Must Cease Their “Extremist Violence”
In a November 17, 2023 phone call to Israeli Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, according to the U.S. State Department, emphasized the need for Israel to take “affirmative steps to de-escalate tensions in the West Bank, including by confronting rising levels of settler extremist violence.” “The decision by Blinken to call Gantz appears noteworthy,” said the Times of Israel, “given his Israeli counterpart is Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and that the U.S. generally maintains decorum with regard to officials engaging with their counterparts abroad.” In other words, Blinken broke protocol by bypassing contact with Cohen and going directly to Gantz, who sat on the more senior war cabinet and was perceived by the Biden administration as a more moderate figure than Cohen.
2023: Biden Calls for Humanitarian “Pause” in Israeli Assault on Gaza & Hamas
On November 2, 2023, the Associated Press reported:
“President Joe Biden said he thought there should be a humanitarian ‘pause’ in the Israel-Hamas war, after his campaign speech Wednesday evening [November 1] was interrupted by a protester calling for a cease-fire. ‘I think we need a pause,’ Biden said.
“The call was a subtle departure for Biden and top White House aides, who throughout the Mideast crisis have been steadfast in stating they will not dictate how the Israelis carry out their military operations in response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.
“But the president has faced intensifying pressure from human rights groups, fellow world leaders and even liberal members of his own Democratic Party, who say that the Israeli bombardment of Gaza is collective punishment and that it is time for a cease-fire.
“In his comments, Biden was exerting pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to give Palestinians at least a brief reprieve from the relentless military operation that’s left thousands dead and mired the 141-square-mile strip in a roiling humanitarian crisis.
“The White House has refused to call for a cease-fire but has signaled that the Israelis should consider humanitarian pauses to allow civilians to receive aid and for foreign nationals trapped on the strip to leave Gaza.”
2023: “National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia”
On November 1, 2023 — after a poll commissioned by the Arab American Institute showed that President Biden’s support among Arab Americans had dropped to 17% since he had voiced support for Israel’s war on Hamas — Vice President Kamala Harris announced the unveiling of the Biden administration’s new “National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia.” Among her remarks were the following:
“For years, Muslims in America and those perceived to be Muslim have endured a disproportionate number of hate-fueled attacks. As a result of the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, we have seen an uptick in anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents across America, including the brutal attack of a Palestinian-American woman, who is Muslim, and the killing of her 6-year-old son.”
Harris also said that the Biden plan sought to “protect Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim from hate, bigotry and violence. And to address the concern that some government policies may discriminate against Muslims.”
Republican Senator Tom Cotton criticized the Biden initiative in a tweet that said: “After the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and a breakout of pro-Hamas activism on campus, the White House is claiming *Islamophobia* is our top concern.”
And Concordia University Professor Gad Saad stated wryly: “According to the [FBI] director, Jews make up 2.4% of the US population but are the targets of 60% of hate crimes. This is why it is apparently important to fight Islamophobia according to the White House.”
2023: Biden Says Conditional Aid to Israel Is “a Worthwhile Thought”
On November 24, 2023 — after Hamas had released 24 hostages as part of its negotiated four-day ceasefire with Israel — Biden said: “We don’t know when [the next hostage release] will occur, but we expect it to occur. And we don’t know what the list of all the hostages are or when they’ll be released, but we know the numbers when they’re going to be released. So my hope and expectation is that it will be soon.” Regarding the Democrats’ increasing calls to condition U.S. aid to Israel on the Jewish state’s willingness to scale back its military operations in Gaza, the president stated: “I think that’s a worthwhile thought. But I don’t think if I started off with that that we would’ve ever gotten to where we got today. We have to take this a piece at a time.”
2024: Biden Calls Netanyahu “A Bad Fucking Guy”
On February 4, 2024, Politico reported: “Like everyone in the [Biden] administration and any Democrat with a pulse, he’s [Biden is] deeply suspicious of Benjamin Netanyahu, and privately has called the Israeli prime minister a ‘bad fucking guy,’ according to people who’ve talked to the president.”
2024: Scolding Israel & Urging It Not to “Dehumanize” Palestinians
On February 7, 2024, Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a press conference in Tel Aviv where he addressed the ongoing Israel-Hamas military conflict that had erupted in response to the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attacks against the Jewish state. In the course of his remarks, Blinken: (a) exhorted Israel to engage in diplomatic negotiations with the Palestinians; (b) urged Israel to increase its provision of humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians in Gaza; (c) reminded Israel that it did not have “a license to dehumanize others,” and that “the overwhelming majority of people in Gaza had nothing to do with the attacks of October 7th”; (d) called for the pursuit of “a concrete, time-bound, irreversible path to a Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with Israel”; (e) emphasized that President Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority should follow through on the implementation of “reforms” that they had “committed to make in a recently announced reform package”; and (f) voiced his “profound concerns about actions and rhetoric” from Israeli “government officials” that he claimed would only “inflame tensions” in the region. Some additional noteworthy excerpts from Blinken’s remarks:
- “We had an opportunity today to discuss with the Israeli Government the response that Hamas sent last night to the proposal that the United States, Qatar, and Egypt had put together to bring the remaining hostages home, and extend the humanitarian pause. What I can tell you about these discussions is that while there are some clear nonstarters in Hamas’s response, we do think it creates space for agreement to be reached. And we will work at that relentlessly until we get there.”
- “We also discussed the imperative of maximizing civilian protection and humanitarian aid to address the ongoing suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Nearly 2 million people have been displaced from their homes. Hundreds of thousands are experiencing acute hunger. Most have lost someone that they love. And day after day, more people are killed.”
- “On all of my previous visits here and pretty much every day in between, we have pressed Israel in concrete ways to strengthen civilian protection, to get more assistance to those who need it. And over the past four months, Israel has taken important steps to do just that.”
- “As the largest donor of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, the United States has helped provide much of that assistance, including funding 90,000 metric tons of flour delivered from Ashdod Port. That’s enough to provide bread for 1.4 million people for the next five months. A UN team began its mission to the north to assess conditions for the civilians who are still there, as well as what needs to be done to allow displaced Palestinians to return back home to the north.”
- “[A]s I said to the prime minister and to other Israeli officials today, the daily toll that its military operations continue to take on innocent civilians remains too high. In our discussions today, I highlighted some key steps that Israel should take to ensure that more aid reaches more people in Gaza. Israel should open Erez so that assistance can flow to northern Gaza where, as I said, hundreds of thousands of people are struggling to survive under dire conditions. It should expedite the flow of humanitarian assistance from Jordan. It should strengthen deconfliction and improve coordination with the humanitarian providers. And Israel must ensure that the delivery of life-saving assistance to Gaza is not blocked for any reason, by anyone.”
- “Israelis were dehumanized in the most horrific way on October 7th. The hostages have been dehumanized every day since. But that cannot be a license to dehumanize others. The overwhelming majority of people in Gaza had nothing to do with the attacks of October 7th, and the families in Gaza whose survival depends on deliveries of aid from Israel are just like our families. They’re mothers and fathers, sons and daughters – want to earn a decent living, send their kids to school, have a normal life. That’s who they are; that’s what they want. And we cannot, we must not lose sight of that. We cannot, we must not lose sight of our common humanity.”
- “We remain determined as well to pursue a diplomatic path to a just and lasting peace, and security for all in the region, and notably for Israel. And that diplomatic path continues to come into ever sharper focus as I travel throughout the region and talk to all of our friends and partners. An Israel that’s fully integrated into the region, with normal relations with key countries, including Saudi Arabia, with firm guarantees for its security, alongside a concrete, time-bound, irreversible path to a Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with Israel, with the necessary security assurances.”
- “Over the course of this trip, we discussed both the substance and sequence of steps that all would need to take to make this path [to a Palestinian state] real. That includes steps by the Palestinian Authority to reform and revitalize itself. And I reaffirmed the imperative of those steps in my meeting today with President [Mahmoud] Abbas, chief among them improving governance, increasing accountability to the Palestinian people, reforms that the Palestinian Authority is committed to make in a recently announced reform package and that we urge it to implement swiftly.”
- “[I]n my discussions today with the prime minister and senior officials, I also raised our profound concerns about actions and rhetoric, including from government officials, that inflame tensions, that undercut international support, and place greater strains on Israel’s security.”
- “Israel has the responsibility, has the obligation to do everything possible to ensure that civilians are protected and that they get the assistance they need in the course of this conflict. Any military campaign, military operation that Israel undertakes needs to put civilians first and foremost in mind.”
2024: Biden Administration Calls for Creation of Palestinian State
On February 8, 2024, columnist Daniel Greenfield wrote in FrontPage Magazine:
“What do you get when you massacre over a thousand people, rape, behead, torture and kidnap everyone Jewish, Christian or non-Arab in sight? International diplomatic recognition.
“Secretary of State Tony Blinken has reportedly begun conducting a review of options for recognizing a ‘Palestinian’ state after the war [that erupted after the Hamas terror attacks of October 7, 2023]. […]
“A poll found that 74% of ‘Palestinians’ supported the Hamas atrocities of Oct 7 and a majority ‘extremely’ supported them. Only 12% were against. 83% of those in the West Bank, under the Palestinian Authority and the immediate beneficiaries of statehood, supported the crimes.
“98% in Gaza and the West Bank said that they felt ‘pride’ as ‘Palestinians’ over the war. 74% expected the fighting to end with the defeat of Israeli forces in Gaza. Only 17% supported a two-state solution while 77.7% wanted to destroy Israel and replace it with a ‘Palestinian’ state.
“This is what supporting the ‘Palestinian people’ with a ‘Palestinian state’ really means. […]
“Recognizing a terror state after one of the worst acts of terror in history will retroactively validate everything.
“Hamas will be able to claim victory, and so will the ‘Palestinians’ who took part in it, cheered it and supported it to a larger degree than Germans supported Hitler.
“The Palestinian Authority, on which the hopes for a Palestinian State depend, is just as bad.
“Despite Blinken’s best efforts, Mahmoud Abbas, the PLO leader who serves as the official ‘President’ of the Palestinian Authority, refused to disavow the Oct 7 attacks. Instead, the PLO, Fatah and other elements of the ruling regime in charge of the West Bank have praised it and others, like the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, even bragged about taking part in the attacks.
“A video from the Palestinian Authority terror group features ‘terrorists wearing Fatah’s yellow armbands firing Kalashnikov rifles at a kibbutz’ and ‘a Fatah terrorist stamping on the head of a murdered Israeli’ as the group boasts that ‘we had a prominent and clear role’ on Oct 7.
“Abbas was elected to a four-year term in 2005. There have been no elections since and he has functioned as a glorified dictator subsidized by our foreign aid. His likely successors, including the imprisoned leader of a terror group who is ahead in the polls, all praised the Hamas attack.
“Democratic elections in a ‘Palestinian’ state would mean Hamas. The Islamic terror group won the 2006 legislative elections and took over Gaza. It’s why there have been no elections since. Current polls show that if there were to be democratic elections, Hamas would easily win them.
“Biden claimed that, ‘the vast majority of Palestinians are not Hamas. Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people.’ But the vast majority of them disagree and want Hamas to head or form part of a unity coalition of Islamic terrorist groups running a ‘Palestinian’ state..
“The only Palestinian Authority candidate who could beat Hamas is Marwan Barghouti, the grandfather of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, currently serving several life sentences in Israel prison, who responded to Oct 7 by urging a total war against Israel. Hamas has demanded Barghouti’s release as part of any ‘terrorists-for-hostages’ trade with Israel..
“Recognizing a ‘Palestinian’ state means either recognizing the Palestinian Authority’s terror dictatorship in the West Bank or Hamas. Either way an Islamic terrorist group will run the place, eliminate any opposition and launch more terrorist attacks against Israel and then anyone else.
“But diplomats who were blindsided by the Oct 7 attacks are fighting to take control of the situation and the narrative by offering up the same old failed policies. Diplomats claim that Oct 7 was caused by a failure to negotiate, but it had really been brought about by endless negotiations.
“Before the Oct 7 assault, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan had an article in Foreign Affairs magazine touting how negotiations with Hamas had led to quiet in Gaza. After the Hamas invasion, the online version had that edited out and only the print copies remain.
“The roots of the Oct 7 attack lie in the 1992 pressure campaign to force Israel to take back the Hamas terror leaders it had deported, followed by the Oslo accord deals with Arafat and the PLO, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s ’s insistence on democratic elections that brought Hamas to power, Obama’s Arab Spring which empowered the Muslim Brotherhood parent organization of Hamas to win democratic elections, including in neighboring Egypt, which provided a vital outlet of support for Hamas, and then the Iran Deal that funded the state sponsor of Hamas which led Iran to expand its operations and ambitions around the region.
“The addiction to diplomacy, nation building, accords and agreements led fatally to Oct 7.
“Israel had resisted allowing Hamas to take part in elections only to face pressure from Rice.
“‘Whenever you have 80 percent of the Palestinian people turn out in a free and fair election, one that is free of violence, it has to be a cause for hope,’ Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice argued after Hamas won the 2005 elections.
In 2007, a year after Hamas seized control of Gaza, Rice declared, “frankly, it’s time for the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
“No matter how often the same approach fails, the diplomats never admit they were wrong.”
2024: Biden Says He Hopes for Israel-Hamas Ceasefire within a Few Days
On February 26, 2024, President Biden told reporters that he hoped for a ceasefire to take effect between Israel and Hamas by Monday, March 4. “My national security adviser tells me that we’re close,” said Biden. “We’re close. We’re not done yet. My hope is by next Monday we’ll have a ceasefire.” Egypt, Qatar and the United States had been mediating peace talks between the two sides since January.
2024: Biden Says Israeli Gunfire That Killed Gazans Will “Complicate” Ceasefire Talks
On February 29, 2024, President Biden said the United States was evaluating both Israel’s and Hamas’s “competing versions” of the facts surrounding an incident where, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, Israeli Defense Forces personnel had shot and killed 112 Palestinians while the latter were peacefully trying to obtain food and humanitarian aid from delivery trucks that had assembled in one particular Gaza location. Israeli authorities, by contrast, claimed that a “violent gathering” had erupted in the vicinity of the trucks, prompting IDF soldiers to fire warning shots which caused only 10 of the hundreds of casualties reported. “We’re checking that out right now,” said Biden. “There’s two competing versions of what happened. I don’t have an answer yet.” When asked by reporters whether the incident would complicate the ongoing ceasefire talks, the president replied: “I know it will.” Moreover, the White House released a statement saying: “We mourn the loss of innocent life and recognize the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where innocent Palestinians are just trying to feed their families. This underscores the importance of expanding and sustaining the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, including through a potential temporary ceasefire.”
2024: Biden Issues Ramadan Message Lamenting the “Pain” & “Suffering” of Palestinians in Gaza
On March 10, 2024, President Biden issued the following statement to mark the beginning of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, a statement focusing heavily on the “pain” and “suffering” that Palestinians in Gaza were experiencing as a result of Israel’s military operations against Hamas in that region:
“Tonight—as the new crescent moon marks the beginning of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan— [First Lady] Jill and I extend our best wishes and prayers to Muslims across our country and around the world.
“The sacred month is a time for reflection and renewal. This year, it comes at a moment of immense pain. The war in Gaza has inflicted terrible suffering on the Palestinian people. More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, most of them civilians, including thousands of children. Some are family members of American Muslims, who are deeply grieving their lost loved ones today. Nearly two million Palestinians have been displaced by the war; many are in urgent need of food, water, medicine, and shelter. As Muslims gather around the world over the coming days and weeks to break their fast, the suffering of the Palestinian people will be front of mind for many. It is front of mind for me.
“The United States will continue to lead international efforts to get more humanitarian assistance into Gaza by land, air, and sea. Earlier this week, I directed our military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier on the coast of Gaza that can receive large shipments of aid. We are carrying out airdrops of aid, in coordination with our international partners, including Jordan. And we’ll continue to work with Israel to expand deliveries by land, insisting that it facilitate more routes and open more crossings to get more aid to more people.
“While we get more life-saving aid to Gaza, the United States will continue working non-stop to establish an immediate and sustained ceasefire for at least six weeks as part of a deal that releases hostages. And we will continue building toward a long-term future of stability, security, and peace. That includes a two-state solution to ensure Palestinians and Israelis share equal measures of freedom, dignity, security, and prosperity. That is the only path toward an enduring peace.
“Here at home, we have seen an appalling resurgence of hate and violence toward Muslim Americans. Islamophobia has absolutely no place in the United States, a country founded on freedom of worship and built on the contributions of immigrants, including Muslim immigrants. My Administration is developing the first-ever National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Related Forms of Bias and Discrimination, to take on hate against Muslim, Sikh, South Asian, and Arab American communities, wherever it occurs. No one should ever fear being targeted at school, at work, on the street, or in their community because of their background or beliefs.
“To Muslims across our country, please know that you are deeply valued members of our American family. To those who are grieving during this time of war, I hear you, I see you, and I pray you find solace in your faith, family, and community. And to all who are marking the beginning of Ramadan tonight, I wish you a safe, healthy, and blessed month. Ramadan kareem.”
2024: Netanyahu Says Biden Is “Wrong” Regarding Israel & the Palestinians
On March 7, 2024 — just hours after David Ignatius of the Washington Post reported that the Biden administration was considering limiting arms sales to Israel as a way to deter its military forces from entering Rafah, where Hamas’s four remaining battalions were cornered by the IDF — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said:
“Soldiers and officers, we are in the midst of a war that could not be more just. The Government set the goals of the war – and you are in the field working to achieve them: Eliminating Hamas’s evil rule, returning home all of our hostages and preventing any future threat to the State of Israel from Gaza.
“In this war, the ground forces are at the center: In face-to-face battles, eliminating terrorists, destroying terrorist infrastructure, destroying tunnels, relentlessly pursuing the arch-murderers and in efforts to locate hostages.
“I want you to pay attention to what is being said about you, about our IDF. Noted military historian John Spencer, an expert on urban warfare at West Point, the Training Base #1 of the US, says that no army in history has dealt with tens of thousands of armed fighters, dispersed in various cities, who are using the civilian population as human shields, and who hide in hundreds of kilometers of underground tunnels, and despite these harsh and unprecedented conditions, he says that the IDF is achieving the goals of the war with impressive success and is doing so with minimal harm to civilians. And as the historian Spencer notes, with an effort that no other army in the world, in the history of armies, has done.
“Today, I want to tell you tell you clearly: The IDF will continue to operate against all of Hamas’s battalions throughout the Strip – and this includes Rafah, Hamas’s last stronghold. Whoever tells us not to operate in Rafah, is telling us to lose the war – and that will not happen.
“At the same time, we will take vigorous action in the other sectors, against whoever seeks to destroy us, including on the northern front. Whoever has not yet been convinced by our strength would do well to look at what is happening to the enemy strongholds in Gaza. Our enemies have brought unprecedented destruction on themselves. Those who talked about spider webs – are today meeting lions.
“Indeed, there is international pressure, and it is increasing. But it is precisely when the international pressure increases that we must close ranks among ourselves. We must stand together against the attempts to stop the war. We must reject together the desperate attempt to charge the IDF with the responsibility for Hamas’s crimes.
“It is Hamas that murdered, massacred and raped our brothers and sisters. It is Hamas that abducted our sons and daughters. It is Hamas that is perpetrating war crimes against its people – and ours – on a daily basis. And we are fighting these monsters in order to ensure our very existence. Even as we defend ourselves, we are defending the most sacred values of the free world and human society as a whole.
“Therefore, I say to the leaders of the world: When we defeat the murderers of October 7, we are preventing the next 9/11. The entire civilized world should support the IDF and the State of Israel.
“The fighting – and the learning while fighting – are intertwined. This is what the Psalmist says: ‘Who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.’ [Psalm 144:1] We are learning the lessons of the fighting and we are planning – with due consideration – the continuation of the war. In the future, we will learn all the lessons of October 7. We will do so openly and fully. But today we have a clear goal: Achieving total victory in the war.”
In a March 10, 2024 interview with Politico, Netanyahu spoke about U.S. President Joe Biden’s recent assertion that the Israeli prime minister was pursuing “private” policies in dealing with the Palestinians that: (a) most Israelis rejected, and (b) were “hurting Israel more than … helping.” Said Netanyahu:
“I don’t know exactly what the president meant, but if he meant by that that I’m pursuing private policies against the majority, the wish of the majority of Israelis, and that this is hurting the interests of Israel, then he’s wrong on both counts.
“Number one, these are not my private policies, only. They’re policies supported by the overwhelming majority of the Israelis. They support the action that we’re taking to destroy the remaining terrorist battalions of Hamas. They say that once we destroy the Hamas, the last thing we should do is put in Gaza, in charge of Gaza, the Palestinian Authority that educates its children towards terrorism and pays for terrorism. And they also support my position that says that we should resoundingly reject the attempt to ram down our throats a Palestinian state.
“That is something that they agree on. And it’s something that I think is also for the interests of Israel because the majority of Israelis understand that if we don’t do this, what we’ll have is a repetition of the October 7th massacre, which is bad for Israel, bad for the Palestinians, bad for the future of peace in the Middle East. So, the attempt to say that my policies are my private policies that are not supported by most Israelis, is false. The vast majority are united as never before. And they understand what’s good for Israel. They understand what’s important for Israel. And I think they’re right.”
2024: Biden Administration Abstains on UN Ceasefire Vote Amid Israel’s War Against Hamas
On March 26, 2024, the Biden administration opted to abstain from voting against a United Nations Security Council resolution that demanded an “immediate” cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip — a resolution that did not condition such a pause in combat on the release of the nearly 100 hostages who were still being held by Hamas. Because the U.S. possessed veto power as one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, the Biden administration could have vetoed — i.e., blocked — the resolution with a single “no” vote. Instead, the administration abstained, thereby allowing the resolution to pass, 14-0.
In response to the outcome of the vote, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled plans for an Israeli delegation to visit Washington to discuss U.S.-Israeli disagreements regarding the advisability of the ground invasion that the Israeli military was preparing to launch against the southern Gaza city of Rafah, Hamas’ last remaining major stronghold. Netanyahu’s office also characterized the Biden administration’s abstention as “a clear retreat from the consistent position of the US in the Security Council since the beginning of the war.” (Note: Soon after having announced his plan to cancel the Israeli delegation to Washington, Netanyahu changed his mind and said that the delegation would be sent to D.C. after all.)
Emboldened by the passage of the United Nations’ cease-fire resolution, Hamas announced that it was “adhering to its position and vision that it presented on March 14” — when it had demanded that Israel “halt the aggression against our people in Gaza and provide relief and assistance to them, as well as the return of displaced persons to their homes, and the withdrawal of occupation forces from the sector.” Following the March 26 UN Security Council vote, Hamas stated: “The occupation’s response did not respond to any of the basic demands of our people and our resistance: (a comprehensive ceasefire, withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced, and a real exchange of prisoners). Accordingly, the movement reiterates that Netanyahu and his extremist government bear full responsibility for thwarting all negotiation efforts and obstructing reaching an agreement so far.” (Israel had recently agreed to release approximately 700-800 Palestinian prisoners in return for 40 of the nearly 100 hostages being held by Hamas — to say nothing about the remains of the 30 or so additional hostages whom Hamas had already murdered.)
In response to Hamas’ announcement, Netanyahu’s office wrote on X: “Hamas’s stance clearly demonstrates its utter disinterest in a negotiated deal and attests to the damage done by the UN Security Council’s resolution. Israel will not address Hamas’s delusional demands. Israel will pursue and achieve its just war objectives: Destroying Hamas’s military and governmental capacities, release of all the hostages, and ensuring Gaza will not pose a threat to the people of Israel in the future.”
Though the aforementioned Israeli delegation was canceled, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met, as already had been scheduled, with a U.S. contingent that included Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on March 26. During that meeting, Austin complained that “in Gaza today, the number of civilian casualties is far too high and the amount of humanitarian aid is far too low.” And according to a senior U.S. defense official, Austin privately told Gallant that he wished to “help Israel find an alternative to a full-scale and perhaps premature military operation that could endanger the over 1 million civilians that are sheltering in Rafah.”
The New York Post reported on March 26, 2024: “The Biden administration has also ratcheted up the pressure on Netanyahu to help with efforts to funnel more desperately needed humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. However, supporters of Israel insist that most of the aid that does make it into Gaza is stolen by Hamas, leaving those who need help most to fend for themselves.”
2024: Again Demanding an Israeli Ceasefire
With Israel on the verge of finally destroying Hamas’s last remaining battalions and leaders in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, Secretary of State Antony Blinken — at an April 4, 2024 press conference in Belgium — issued the following remarks:
- “What happened after October 7th could have ended immediately if Hamas had stopped hiding behind civilians, released the hostages, and put down its weapons. But Israel is not Hamas. Israel is a democracy; Hamas, a terrorist organization. And democracies place the highest value on human life, every human life. As it has been said [in a Jewish proverb], whoever saves a life, saves the entire world. That’s our strength. It’s what distinguishes us from terrorists like Hamas. If we lose that reverence for human life, we risk becoming indistinguishable from those we confront.”
- “Right now, there is no higher priority in Gaza than protecting civilians, surging humanitarian assistance, and ensuring the security of those who provide it. Israel must meet this moment.”
- While Israel has taken “important steps” to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, “the results on the ground are woefully insufficient and unacceptable.”
- “This week’s horrific attack on the World Central Kitchen [WCK] was not the first such incident. It must be the last.” (This was a reference to an Israeli air strike that had killed 7 aid workers inside a van that was leading a WCK convoy on April 2.)
- President Biden made it clear to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians, and he urged the prime minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages [being held by Hamas] home.”
- “Our conviction remains that we need to see an immediate ceasefire to enable the release of hostages, but also to enable a dramatic surge in humanitarian assistance.”
2024: In Phone Call with Netanyahu, Biden Demands “Immediate Ceasefire” by Israel
In an April 4, 2024 phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Biden demanded an “immediate ceasefire” from Israel, and he threatened to cut off U.S. support if the Jewish state failed to comply. Said the White House in a statement:
“President Biden spoke by telephone with Prime Minister Netanyahu. The two leaders discussed the situation in Gaza. President Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable. He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers. He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps. He underscored that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians, and he urged the Prime Minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home.”
2024: Under Pressure from Biden, Israel Leaves Southern Gaza
On April 7, 2024, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced — in the wake of President Biden’s demand for an “immediate ceasefire” following Israel’s unintended killing of seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers — that it had withdrawn most of its military forces from southern Gaza. The IDF left just one brigade in Gaza, for the purpose of: (a) facilitating a return of Israeli troops if necessary, and (b) carrying out particular targeted operations.
Notably, there was evidence that Hamas, just prior to the aforementioned killing of the aid workers, had taken measures to trick Israel into believing that the WCK van was actually a Hamas vehicle — a deception designed to cause civilian deaths and thereby turn public opinion against Israel. According to The Jerusalem Post, an IDF drone unit had reported seeing a Hamas gunman climb atop the vehicle and fire gunshots into the air — a signal commonly used by Hamas terrorists. The IDF, at that point, opted to try calling WCK to determine whether or not any of its aid workers were inside the van. As The Post reported:
“As the events developed, the IDF tried to call the aid workers involved in the field and was unable to reach them. Next, the IDF called the WCK headquarters. The WCK headquarters tried to call its own aid workers in the field, but they did not answer.
“When vehicles left the hangar, the IDF drone unit believed that these were not the same vehicles and thought that these were Hamas vehicles, or that around four Hamas operatives had joined or taken over the convoy.”
Immediately after Israel’s withdrawal from southern Gaza, Hamas declared that it had won a major victory by not compromising on its demands for the IDF to leave the region.
2024: Iran Fires 300+ Missiles & Drones at Israel, and Biden Urges Israel Not to Retaliate
On April 14, 2024, The Associated Press reported:
“Booms and air raid sirens sounded across Israel early Sunday [April 14] after Iran launched hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles in an unprecedented revenge mission that pushed the Middle East closer to a regionwide war. A military spokesman said the launches numbered more than 300 but 99% of them were intercepted.
“Calling the outcome ‘a very significant strategic success,’ Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Iran fired 170 drones, more than 30 cruise missiles and more than 120 ballistic missiles. Of those, several ballistic missiles reached Israeli territory, causing minor damage to an air base….
“The Iranian attack, less than two weeks after a suspected Israeli strike in Syria [on April 1] that killed two Iranian generals in an Iranian consular building, marked the first time Iran has launched a direct military assault on Israel, despite decades of enmity dating back to the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution….
“Iran had vowed revenge since the April 1 airstrike in Syria, which Tehran accused Israel of being responsible for. Israel hasn’t commented on it.”
Also on April 14, 2024, CNN.com reported:
“President Joe Biden and senior members of his national security team, seeking to contain the risk of a wider regional war following a barrage of Iranian missiles and drones directed toward Israel, have told their counterparts the US will not participate in any offensive action against Iran, according to US officials familiar with the matter.
“In a conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late Saturday, Biden sought to frame Israel’s successful interception of the Iranian onslaught as a major victory — with the suggestion that further Israeli response was unnecessary.
“Biden told the Israeli prime minister in his phone call that he should consider Saturday a win because Iran’s attacks had been largely unsuccessful and demonstrated Israel’s superior military capability, a senior administration official said. The US assessed that there was ‘no significant damage within Israel itself,’ according to a senior US military official. […]
“Whether Netanyahu takes Biden’s advice remains an open question. The Iranian reprisals came at a moment of deep tension between the men over the war in Gaza. Throughout that conflict, the limits of American influence on Israeli decision-making have been laid bare.”
Israel did in fact retaliate against Iran with an April 18, 2024 airstrike in which a missile struck an undisclosed location in Iran.
2024: Biden State Department Smears Israel as a Human-Rights Abuser
On April 23, 2024, the Biden State Department published its 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Fox News noted that the document “highlighted Israel prominently, featuring concerns over the country’s precautions to minimize the civilian toll of Palestinians on the first page, which is normally reserved for the most egregious of human rights abusers.” Not only did the document include Israel among the world’s most barbaric human rights abusers – China, Putin’s Russia, the Taliban, Cuba, Nicaragua, Uganda, Libya, Syria, Iraq, North Korea, and Iran, the would-be exterminators of the Jewish state — but “Israel was mentioned before the Biden administration’s State Department addressed ‘ongoing and brutal human rights abuses in Iran’ or ‘the Taliban’s systemic mistreatment of and discrimination against Afghanistan’s women and girls.’” Moreover, Israel’s alleged transgressions were discussed immediately after the report mentioned “the Kremlin’s disregard and contempt for human rights,” which “are on full display in its war against Ukraine,” and the “horrific violence, death, and destruction, including mass killings, unjust detentions, rape, and other forms of gender-based violence” that the Sudanese Armed Forces had unleashed in that country.
As Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote in the document’s Preface:
“The Kremlin’s disregard and contempt for human rights are on full display in its war against Ukraine. Russian forces employ violence against civilians as a deliberate tool of warfare. The Report highlights documentation of human rights violations and abuses – some amounting to crimes against humanity – throughout the second year of Russia’s brutal, full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Civilians, including Ukrainian children, have suffered egregious abuses by Russian forces and other Russian officials. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian children have been transferred within Russia-occupied parts of Ukraine and/or deported to Russia, in many cases taken from their parents or lawful guardians and forced to take Russian names and citizenship. Russia is cracking down on its own citizens, bringing spurious criminal charges against hundreds of Russians who have spoken against Putin’s war of aggression.
“Across Sudan, the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces have unleashed horrific violence, death, and destruction, including mass killings, unjust detentions, rape, and other forms of gender-based violence…. Elsewhere in Africa, Uganda’s government took aim at the human rights of all Ugandans, enacting a broad, draconian anti-LGBTQI+ legislation, including the death penalty for ‘serial offenders.’
“The conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza continues to raise deeply troubling concerns for human rights. Hamas’ brutal terrorist attacks on October 7 killed around 1,200 people, took approximately 230 Israeli and foreign hostages, and included appalling abuses, including gender-based violence and sexual violence. As Israel exercises its right to self-defense, we have made clear that it must conduct military operations in accordance with international law and take every feasible precaution to protect civilians. We continue to urgently raise concerns surrounding the deaths of and injuries to tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, including women, children, persons with disabilities, and other vulnerable persons. We repeatedly have pressed concerns about Palestinian civilians’ access to humanitarian assistance, displacement of the majority of the population of Gaza, and the unprecedented number of journalists killed. We have repeatedly condemned Hamas’ abhorrent misuse of civilians and civilian infrastructure as human shields and its continued refusal to release all hostages. We also continue to condemn the record levels of violence in the West Bank, including attacks by violent extremist settlers against Palestinian civilians.
“The Report illuminates the ongoing and brutal human rights abuses in Iran, where the regime’s violent repression of its citizens occurs at home and even abroad, including through acts of transnational repression targeting the regime’s perceived dissidents and critics. Iranian women and members of marginalized communities continue to suffer disproportionately from the regime’s human rights violations and abuses. Once detained, many prisoners have been harshly punished and even executed for spurious or unjust reasons.
“The Report illustrates the Taliban’s systemic mistreatment of and discrimination against Afghanistan’s women and girls. The Taliban have issued over 50 decrees and edicts that effectively erase women from public life. Credible sources cited in the Report describe how the military regime in Burma continues to use brutal violence against the general population to consolidate its control, killing more than 4,000 people and detaining more than 25,000.
“The Report documents ongoing grave human rights abuses in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). For example, in Xinjiang, the PRC continues to carry out genocide, crimes against humanity, forced labor, and other human rights violations against predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups.
“In Cuba, more than 1,000 political prisoners are reportedly unjustly detained and subjected to harsh treatment; their family members are targets of threats as well. In Nicaragua, the Ortega-Murillo regime closed more than 300 civil society organizations in 2023, bringing the number of shuttered organizations to more than 3,500. The regime also stripped more than 300 individuals of their citizenship and is holding more than 100 political prisoners in appalling conditions.”
The report subsequently featured a massive, 103-page section enumerating and detailing the multitudinous alleged human-rights abuses perpetrated by Israel.
2024: Biden Contemplates Bringing Gazan Refugees to America
On April 30, 2024, the Washington Examiner reported:
“The Biden administration is reportedly considering bringing certain Gazan refugees into the United States. According to internal federal government documents obtained by CBS News, senior officials from federal agencies have considered plans to resettle some Palestinian refugees in the U.S. as the war between Israel and Hamas nears seven months. The plans discussed would only allow Palestinians with immediate family members who are American citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. to settle there. […]
“The Palestinian refugees would have to meet stringent qualifications, including eligibility, medical, and security screenings, then provide proof that they are fleeing due to persecution, such as of their nationality, religion, or political views, according to the report. Palestinians could opt to select the Israeli government as their persecutor, setting up an awkward situation for the allied U.S. government.”
2024: Pro-Palestinian, Anti-Israel Protests Are Funded by Top Biden Donors
On May 5, 2024, Politico reported:
“President Joe Biden has been dogged for months by pro-Palestinian protesters calling him ‘Genocide Joe’ — but some of the groups behind the demonstrations receive financial backing from philanthropists pushing hard for his reelection.
“The donors include some of the biggest names in Democratic circles: Gates, Soros, Rockefeller and Pritzker, according to a POLITICO analysis.
“Two of the organizers behind protests at Columbia University and on other campuses are Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow. Both are supported by the Tides Foundation, which is seeded by Democratic megadonor George Soros as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and it in turn supports numerous small nonprofits that work for social change….
“Another notable Democratic donor whose philanthropy has helped fund the protest movement is David Rockefeller Jr., who sits on the board of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. In 2022, the fund gave $300,000 to the Tides Foundation; according to nonprofit tax forms, Tides has given nearly $500,000 over the past five years to Jewish Voice for Peace, which explicitly describes itself as anti-Zionist.
“Several other groups involved in pro-Palestinian protests are backed by a foundation funded by Susan and Nick Pritzker, heir to the Hyatt Hotel empire — and supporters of Biden and numerous Democratic campaigns, including $6,600 to the Biden Victory Fund a few months ago and more than $300,000 during the 2020 campaign….
“Jewish Voice for Peace, which did not return a request for comment, has been a leader in disruptive protests against Biden, including shouting “genocide supporter” at his glitzy fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall in New York in March. It protests on campuses across the country, and its statement immediately following the Oct. 7 attacks said that ‘the source of all this violence’ was ‘Israeli apartheid and occupation — and United States complicity in that oppression.’”
2024: Biden Vows to Halt Weapons Tranfers to Israel if IDF Goes into Rafah
During a May 8, 2024 interview with CNN, host Erin Burnett asked Biden, “I want to ask you about something happening as we sit here and speak, and that, of course, is Israel is striking Rafah. I know that you have paused, Mr. President, shipments of 2,000-pound U.S. bombs to Israel due to concern that they could be used in any offensive on Rafah. Have those bombs, those powerful 2,000-pound bombs, been used to kill civilians in Gaza?”
Biden responded, “Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers. And I made it clear that, if they go into Rafah, they haven’t gone into Rafah yet, if they go into Rafah, I’m not going to supply them the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, to deal with that problem. We’re going to continue to make sure Israel is secure in terms of the Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks like what came out of the Middle East recently. But it’s just wrong, we’re not going to supply the weapons and the artillery shells that are used, that have been used –,”
Burnett at that point cut in to ask, “Artillery shells as well?” Biden replied, “Yeah, artillery shells.”
Burnett then asked, “So, just to understand what they’re doing right now in Rafah, is that not going into Rafah, as you define it?”
Biden replied: “No. They haven’t gone into the population centers. What they did is right on the border, and it’s causing problems with, right now, in terms of Egypt, which I’ve worked very hard to make sure we have a relationship [with] and help. But I’ve made it clear to Bibi and the War Cabinet, they’re not going to get our support if, in fact, they go into these population centers.”
During that same interview, Biden stated that his promise to cut off weapons transfers to Israel if the IDF were to attck Rafah’s population centers was “not walking away from Israel’s security,” but rather, “walking away from Israel’s ability to wage war in those areas.” Biden also stated that “we’ve held up the weapons” already by delaying “an old shipment” of bombs that had been scheduled to be sent to Israel.
2024: Biden Calls for “Immediate Ceasefire” in Gaza
On May 19, 2024, President Biden delivered a commencement address at Morehouse College, where he made the following remarks regarding the Israel-Hamas war:
“What’s happening in Gaza and Israel is heartbreaking. Hamas’s vicious attack on Israel, killing innocent lives and holding people hostage. I was there nine days after, s- — pictures of tying a mother and a daughter with a rope, pouring kerosene on them, burning them and watching as they died. Innocent Palestinians caught in the middle of all this: men, women, and children killed or displaced in despite — in desperate need of water, food, and medicine. It’s a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. That’s why I’ve called for an immediate ceasefire — an immediate ceasefire to stop the fighting — bring the hostages home. And I’ve been working on a deal as we speak, working around the clock to lead an international effort to get more aid into Gaza, rebuild Gaza.”
2024: Biden Pushes a “Peace Proposal” That Offers Hamas Terrorists Everything They Want
Remarks by President Biden on the Israel-Hamas War in Gaza: May 31, 2024:
I want to give an update on my efforts to end the crisis in Gaza.
For the past several months, my negotiators of foreign policy, intelligence community, and the like have been relentlessly focused not just on a ceasefire that would eve- — that would inevitably be fragile and temporary but on a durable end to the war. That’s been the focus: a durable end to this war.
One that brings all the hostages home, ensures Israel’s security, creates a better “day after” in Gaza without Hamas in power, and sets the stage for a political settlement that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
Now, after intensive diplomacy carried out by my team and my many conversations with leaders of Israel, Qatar, and Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries, Israel has now offered — Israel has offered a comprehensive new proposal.
It’s a roadmap to an enduring ceasefire and the release of all hostages.
This proposal has been transmitted by Qatar to Hamas.
Today, I want to lay out its terms for the American citizens and for the world.
This new proposal has three phases — three.
The first phase would last for six weeks. Here’s what it would include: a full and complete ceasefire; a withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza; a release of a number of hostages — including women, the elderly, the wounded — in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. There are American hostages who would be released at this stage, and we want them home.
Additional, some remains of hostages who have been killed would be returned to their families, bringing some degree of closure to their terrible grief.
Palestinians — civilians — would return to their homes and neighborhoods in all areas of Gaza, including in the north.
Humanitarian assistance would surge with 600 trucks carrying aid into Gaza every single day.
With a ceasefire, that aid could be safely and effectively distributed to all who need it. Hundreds of thousands of temporary shelters, including housing units, would be delivered by the international community.
All of that and more would begin immediately — immediately.
During the six weeks of ph- — of phase one, Israel and Hamas would negotiate the necessary arrangements to get to phase two, which is a permanent end to hostol- — to hostilities.
Now, I’ll be straight with you. There are a number of details to negotiate to move from phase one to phase two. Israel will want to make sure its interests are protected.
But the proposal says if the negotiations take longer than six weeks for phase one, the ceasefire will still continue as long as negotiations continue.
And the United States, Egypt, and Qatar would work to ensure negotiations keep going — all agreements — all agreements — until all the agreements are reached and phase two is able to begin.
Then phase two: There would be an exchange for the release of all remaining living hostages, including male soldiers; Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza; and as long as Hamas lives up to its commitments, a temporary ceasefire would become, in the words of the propo- — the Israeli proposal, “the cessation of hostilities permanently,” end of quote. “Cessation of hostilities permanently.”
Finally, in phase three, a major reconstruction plan for Ga- — for Gaza wou- — would commence. And any final remains of hostages who have been killed would be returned to their families.
That’s the offer that’s now on the table and what we’ve been asking for. It’s what we need.
The people of Israel should know they can make this offer without any further risk to their own security because they’ve devastated Hamas form- — forces over the past eight months. At this point, Hamas no longer is capable of carrying out another October 7th, which — one of the Israelis’ main objective in this war and, quite frankly, a righteous one.
I know there are those in Israel who will not agree with this plan and will call for the war to continue indefinitely. Some — some are even in the government coalition. And they’ve made it clear: They want to occupy Gaza, they want to keep fighting for years, and the hostages are not a priority to them.
Well, I’ve urged the leadership in Israel to stand behind this deal, despite whatever pressure comes.
And to the people of Israel, let me say this. As someone whose had a lifelong commitment to Israel, as the only American president who has ever gone to Israel in a time of war, as someone who just sent the U.S. forces to directly defend Israel when it was attacked by Iran, I ask you to take a step back and think what will happen if this moment is lost.
We can’t lose this moment. Indefinite war in pursuit of an unidentified notion of “total victory” will not bring Israel in — will not bring down — bog down — will only bog down Israel in Gaza, draining the economic, military, and human- — and human resources, and furthering Israel’s isolation in the world.
That will not bring hostages home. That will not — not bring an enduring defeat of Hamas. That will not bring Israel lasting security.
But a comprehensive approach that starts with this deal will bring hostages home and will lead to a more secure Israel. And once a ceasefire and hostage deal is concluded, it unlocks the possibility of a great deal more progress, including — including calm along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.
The United States will help forge a diplomatic resolution, one that ensures Israel’s security and allows people to safely return to their homes without fear of being attacked.
With a deal, a rebuilding of Gaza will begin [with] Arab nations and the international community, along with Palestinian and Israeli leaders, to get it done in a manner that does not allow Hamas to re-arm.
And the United States will work with our partners to rebuild homes, schools, and hospitals in Gaza to help repair communities that were destroyed in the chaos of war.
And with this deal, Israel could become more deeply integrated into the region, including — it’s no surprise to you all — including no — a po- — potential historic normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia. Israel could be part of a regional security network to counter the threat posed by Iran.
All of this progress would make Israel more secure, with Israeli families no longer living in the shadow of a terrorist attack.
And all of this would create the conditions for a different future and a better future for the Palestinian people, one of self-determination, dignity, security, and freedom. This path is available once the deal is struck.
Israel will always have the right to defend itself against the threats to its security and to bring those responsible for October 7th to justice. And the United States will always ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself.
If Hamas fails to fulfill its commitments under the deal, Israel can resume military operations. But Egypt and Qatar have assured me and they are continuing to work to ensure that Hamas doesn’t do that. And the United States will help ensure that Israel lives up to their obligations as well.
That’s what this deal says. That’s what it says. And we’ll do our part.
This is truly a decisive moment. Israel has made their proposal. Hamas says it wants a ceasefire. This deal is an opportunity to prove whether they really mean it.
Hamas needs to take the deal.
For months, people all over the world have called for a ceasefire. Now it’s time to raise your voices and to demand that Hasa- — Hamas come to the table, agrees to this deal, and ends this war that they began. […]
Joel Pollack’s June 1, 2024 analysis of the peace proposal announced by Biden:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that Israel would not accept a ceasefire deal that prevented it from destroying Hamas, after U.S. President Joe Biden presented a so-called Israeli “proposal” that allowed Hamas to survive.
On Friday, Biden presented a proposal, which he claimed was made by Israel, for a ceasefire. The terms do not even mention Hamas, much less its disarmament, while they require Israel to withdraw and stop fighting.
Biden repeatedly claimed that the proposal came from Israel — though former President Barack Obama weighed in, stating that the proposal had been Biden’s (and implying, to some observers, that it had actually been Obama’s).
Biden also warned right-wing parties within the Israeli government not to reject the proposal, while at the same time praising the Israeli government for offering it. None of those parties could respond due to the Jewish Sabbath.
In the hours that followed, Hamas welcomed the deal, as did European leaders,while Netanyahu issued a statement suggesting that it was different from Israel’s actual proposals.
On Saturday, Netanyahu issued a further clarifying statement:
“Israel’s conditions for ending the war have not changed: the destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel. Under the proposal, Israel will continue to insist these conditions are met before a permanent ceasefire is put in place. The notion that Israel will agree to a permanent ceasefire before these conditions are fulfilled is a non-starter.”
Biden’s apparent intention had been to box Israel into a deal that it never proposed by claiming that Israel had offered it, then having Hamas and the world accept it, raising the cost for Israel of dissenting from the proposal.
Urging Israel Not to Retaliate for Deadly Hezbollah Strike
On July 27, 2024, the Iran-backed terrorist organization Hezbollah fired an Iranian-made rocket carrying a 110-pound warhead from southern Lebanon into the Golan Heights town of Majdal Shams. The strike killed 12 children who were playing soccer and wounded more than 40 additional people. The Biden administration promptly warned Israel against targeting Beirut with military retaliation, and on July 29, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin emphasized Washington’s desire to see a diplomatic solution negotiated. U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein, whom President Biden had assigned to the administration’s Lebanon portfolio, emphasized the need for Israel to avoid all-out war in order to minimize civilian casualties. But on July 29, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that the Israel Defense Forces’ response to the Hezbollah attack “will come, and it will be tough.” “These children are our children, he added. “They are the children of all of us. The State of Israel will not and cannot let this pass.”
Biden Cautions Israel to Limit Its Response to Iran’s Recent Missile Attack
On October 2, 2024 — a day after Iran had fired more than 180 missiles at Israel — President Biden told reporters, “We’ll be discussing with the Israelis what they’re going to do, but all seven of us [G7 nations] agree that they have a right to respond but they should respond proportionally.” Asked whether he would support Israel striking Iranian nuclear sites, Biden replied: “The answer is no.”
Additional Resources:
Joe Biden: Israel’s Fake “Friend”
By John Perazzo
March 16, 2020
The Biden White House: A Diversity of Racists and Anti-Semites
By David Horowitz and John Perazzo
April 14, 2021
Biden’s Team of Israel-Haters
By Robert Spencer
April 26, 2021