LOS ANGELES.–President Joe Biden, 81, returns from hibernation, to make public statements about Israel, hoping to ink a ceasefire agreement for his what’s left of his legacy before he leaves office in four months. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris continue to bow to pressure from Muslim groups demanding that 74-year-old Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enter into an coerced agreement with a U.S.-labeled terror group. Biden violates State Department Policy since Sept. 11 that the U.S. government would not negotiate with terror groups, especially any group supported by Iran, the world’s biggest sponsor of state-sponsored terrorism. Iran funds the Gaza-based Hamas terror group, Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Lebanon-based Hezbollah militants. U.S. officials would not negotiate with terror group but expects Netanyahu to enter into a binding agreement.
Protests erupted around Israel demanding that Netanyahu capitulate to protesters’ demands that Netanyahu cut a deal to save what’s left of remaining hostages. Six hostages were recently removed from one of Hama’s many underground tunnels, killed on the order of Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar to stop Israel from continuing to rescue any remaining hostages. So, the Israeli public wants Netanyahu to save the remaining hostages at the expense of Israeli national security. Biden and Harris know that the U.S. State Department doesn’t negotiate with terrorists but expects Israel to make concessions to Hamas. Biden and Harris know that Palestinians living under Hamas rule know they have no future with Hamas in charge of the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu must keep his eye on the ball of removing Hamas from Gaza for the sake of Palestinians’ future and Israeli security.
Biden expressed his “devastation and outrage” over the recent death of 23-year-old Hersh Goldberg-Polin who, with five other hostages, were recently murdered by Hamas to warn Israel not to attempt rescues on remaining hostages. Goldberg-Polin’s parents Rachel and Jon Polin spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, expressing hopes that one day they would get back their 23-year-old son who had lost his arm in the Hamas attack on a Negev Dessert Music Festival Oct. 7, when terrorists massacred 1,200 Israelis, many teenagers and young adults attending the Nova Music Festival. When Biden said he’s “devastated and outraged,” why does he pressure Netanyahu to make concessions to Hamas? Biden knows that the U.S. has never had successful negotiations with terrorists. Would Biden have negotiated with Osama bin Laden, mastermine of Sept. 11?
All the protests in Israel will not get the hostages back, it will only weaken the State of Israel by rewarding Hamas for the Oct. 7, 2023 Holocaust-like massacre that raped, tortured and murdered Israelis and others with impunity. Many people don’t know that many of the hostages taken were not only Israelis but many Arab Bedouins living in Israel. Hamas doesn’t care whether they kill Jews or Arabs as long at furthers their stranglehold on the Gaza Strip. No Arab state wants war with Israel or believes that Hamas can rule the Gaza Strip. Hamas spent the last 17 years looting the Gaza Strip of the billions in donor cash earmarked for rebuilding the beleaguered Mediterranean territory. Hamas’s current and past leaders have plundered Gaza’s cash to enrich themselves, like the late Hamas leader-in-exile Ismail Haniyeh worth an estimated $4 billion.
Biden wants to cement his legacy by getting a Hamas truce, not to protect Israel but more his own selfish reasons. Hamas has never been called out for fabricating stats about death rates in Gaza since the war began Oct. 7, 2023. To show how phony the stats, Hamas always exaggerates that Israel Defense Forces [IDF] deliberately targets women and children. Hamas never verifies its casualty estimates, that obviously include Hamas militants. But Hamas always gaslights the press and U.S. officials to underscore Israeli brutality. No army in the world makes amore concerted attempt to avoid collateral damage than the IDF. Hamas wants, above all else, to retain power in Gaza, hoping to get its hands on more donor cash. Instead of pressuring Netanyahu to cut a bad deal with Hamas, Biden should convince U.S. allies to demand that Hamas terrorists leave Gaza.
Israeli public needs to cut Netanyahu some slack and know he has devoted his life to Israeli security. He knows how to deal with Hamas terrorists and its not, as Biden urges, to make concessions. Whatever families want their loved ones back, they know that Hamas would execute all of them when its convenient or realize that they won’t get their way. Biden and U.S. allies in the Arab world and Europe need to back Israel in their war against Hamas terrorists. Making concessions to terrorists only invites more violence and terrorism. Biden’s own State Department would not negotiate with terrorists, why should Israel? Netanyahu should stay the course and make sure for Israeli and Gaza citizens that Hamas can no longer pillage and plunder the Gaza Strip. U.S. and its allies could end the war by demanding Hamas surrender and leave Gaza for good.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
