| For the last 30 years, Israel has compromised with its enemies, given up territory, accepted ceasefires, and contented itself with limited military operations following countless enemy attacks. This strategy has clearly failed, as Israel’s neighbors have continued ceaseless violence against its citizens for decades.
The most epic disaster, of course, was Hamas’s October 7th massacre, which exploded into a continuous war on two fronts—against Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north. Over the past year, nearly a thousand Israelis have been killed and more than a hundred thousand have been displaced from their homes—robbing Israel’s sovereignty over more than 10% of its territory.
Israel’s government and the overwhelming majority of its citizens agree that Israel needs a new strategy—one that ensures Israel’s survival and the safety of its citizens for decades to come. While last week’s beeper and walkie-talkie attacks were a brilliant tactical success, they are insufficient. Victory means eliminating Hamas as a viable force in Gaza and decisive disabling of Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Unfortunately, the Biden-Harris White House does not share this strategy for Israel’s survival. While both Biden and Harris claim to support “Israel’s right to defend itself,” this turns out to be mere “weasel wording,” since both refuse to say they support Hamas’s demise or harsh responses to Hezbollah. Indeed, Kamala Harris cannot mention the Gaza war without demanding a ceasefire—which is the opposite of Israel’s primary goal in the conflict and thus undermines Israel’s existential interests.
The reasons for Team Biden-Harris’s conditional support of Israel stems from the fact that they and their national security advisors believe it’s possible to reform and make peace with Iran, the world’s leading organizer of global jihad, and its Islamist proxies, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Yemen’s Houthis.
The White House holds this position despite all evidence of its failure since the beginning of their administration—starting with Iran’s dramatic increase in wealth and its progress toward threshold production of nuclear weapons. Accordingly, Iran has funded Hamas’s and Hezbollah’s launch of a massive war against Israel, as well as the Houthis blockading of the Red Sea, effectively paralyzing global shipping.
Following its bankrupt strategy, the U.S. has done nothing to halt these terrorist aggressions except half-hearted defensive actions and futile attempts at appeasement.
The tragedy of this situation is that Israel’s strategy directly, forcefully and effectively serves the interests of the United States to thwart the spread of terrorism and Iran’s hegemony in the Middle East. Unfortunately, the U.S. administration believes falsely that those fanatically committed to Islamic conquest can be derailed by financial rewards, paltry land swaps or global respect. The only solution for Israel—and for the United States—is victory over the terrorists, starting with Israel’s defeat of Hamas and Hezbollah . . . preferably with whole-hearted U.S. support.
Most Israelis reject making concessions to their enemies and support a new strategy. A recent poll by the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS), for example, found that nearly three quarters of Israelis reject Hamas’s demands for a ceasefire. Furthermore, 61% of Israelis agreed with the sentence, “Only military pressure on Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and planned military actions including hostage rescue operations can lead to the release of the hostages.”
Many Israelis also want their government to take a tougher stance on Hezbollah. According to a poll by the Israel Democracy Institute, about two thirds of Israelis want their government to respond to the Iranian proxy’s attacks more aggressively, with 42% saying the IDF should “launch an assault deep into Lebanon that includes striking at its infrastructure.” In addition, 52% of Israelis polled by JNS believe that if the U.S. asks Israel not to attack Hezbollah or Iran, Israel should defy the Americans and act in accordance with its own interests.
Tragically, Biden and company make every effort to ensure Israel never defeats its enemies. Although Mr. Biden initially approved Israel’s “elimination” of Hamas, it didn’t take long for his administration to reverse course. They’ve hammered Israel to accept a ceasefire that would leave Hamas in control of Gaza, allow the terrorists to rearm, and permit them to conduct another atrocity reminiscent of October 7th—all in the service of “de-escalating the conflict.” The irony is painfully thick on this point, since it is Hezbollah that started the war with Israel last October and “escalates” it with daily attacks on the Jewish state. Perhaps the U.S. should try pressuring Hezbollah, whose Lebanese government receives half a billion dollars a year in American aid.
Team Biden-Harris naively believe that peace can be made with Iran and its proxies. That’s why, upon taking office, President Biden immediately tried to restore the hapless Nuclear Deal, which gave Iran an unimpeded path to develop nuclear weapons. Biden has also given Iran billions of dollars in sanctions relief—including $6 billion in 2023, in exchange for freeing five American hostages, and another $10 billion earlier this year. Instead of cooperating with the U.S., Iran used this money to fund terrorist proxies and accelerate its nuclear program.
The U.S. helps strengthen Iran, Hezbollah, the Houthis and even Hamas. Iran now has enough material to produce five nuclear bombs within a week. The Houthis, whom Biden delisted as a designated global terrorist organization, are now attacking international shipping on a daily basis. Hezbollah, despite Israel’s beeper attack, continues to shoot its missiles at Israeli citizens. Even Hamas, thanks to constant U.S. restraint of Israel, retains realistic hope it will survive to murder again.
Middle East peace can only be achieved through decisive victory over Israel’s—and America’s—enemies. This means no more talk of ceasefires. No more withholding weapons or moral support from Israel. Finally, no more obstructing Israel’s efforts to defeat the enemies who fight fulltime to annihilate it.
Please make the point when speaking with family, friends, colleagues—or in letters to the editor—that appeasing terrorists and their sponsors does not bring peace. It only breeds more bloodshed and more terrorism. Only through strength will Israel defeat our mutual enemies in the Middle East—and only with determined support of the United States.
If you agree we need to spread this truth, please use your email browser to forward this Hotline issue to fellow lovers of Israel—and encourage them to join us by subscribing to the Hotline at no charge.
Best regards,
James Sinkinson, President
Facts and Logic About the Middle East (FLAME)
P.S. The riots, vandalism and illegal trespassing on American college campuses have sharpened the knives of the Israel haters. It’s become clear that the “pro-Palestinian” protesters are purely anti-Israel and support the genocide of Jews “between the river and the sea.” Scandalously, we’ve also seen hard evidence that university administrators are willing to ignore or openly support the antisemitic hate speech and harassment of Jewish students—though they would never permit such behavior against other minorities. I hope you’ll agree that we supporters of Jewish students and hate-free campuses need to speak out. FLAME’s new hasbarah—explanatory message—“Stop Terrorism on Campus”—calls for four actions to eliminate campus outlaws and to restore rights to all students. Please review this convincing, fact-based editorial, which FLAME recently published in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Tampa Bay Times, Denver Post and Mercury News. This piece will also be sent to all members of Congress, Vice President Harris and President Biden. If you agree that this kind of public relations effort on Israel’s behalf is critical, I urge you to support us with a donation.
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