The Price of Biden's Weakness

It is not just that Palestinian terrorism now has a friend in the White House. As Caroline Glick explains, the Biden administration has been projecting weakness around the world. It seems to have touched the Colonial pipeline, but it is fully in evidence in the Middle East.

The conflagration that is currently happening in Israel and its environs is ample evidence of the trouble that the weak Biden presidency has allowed. Of course, when the administration and its Congressional supporters speak out, they blame everything on Israel. 

Caroline Glick brings us up to date about some of what is happening in Israel.

Last week, Hamas' leaders announced their detailed plans to open a new campaign against Israel on May 9. May 9 was a conflation of three events: Jerusalem Day – Israel's national holiday celebrating the unification of Jerusalem in 1967; Muslims marked the holiest day of the month of Ramadan, and Iran marked its own Jerusalem Day, whose purpose is to call for the destruction of Israel and end Jewish rule in Jerusalem.

Hamas' leaders put everything on the table. And events progressed precisely according to the plans the terror bosses set out in their public announcements. The combination of Arab violence in Sheikh Jarrah, the Damascus Gate, and the Temple Mount, along with balloon bombs and rocket launches against Israel from Gaza, arson fires, and terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria are precisely what Hamas' leaders said would transpire. Fatah, for its part has been a full participant in the violence. Fatah's office in Nablus publicly took credit for the drive-by shooting of three Jewish students at a bus stop in Samaria last Monday. The Fatah terrorist critically wounded all three young men, one of them died of his wounds three days later. The other two are still fighting for their lives.

What did National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan have to say about all of this. Why, he blamed Israel:

Despite that fact that everything was on the table, and despite the fact that only one side has been rioting, violently attacking and trying to lynch innocent civilians, Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden's national security adviser found it appropriate Sunday night to phone his Israeli counterpart Meir Ben-Shabbat and read him the riot act. In the course of their conversation, Sullivan parroted the libelous narrative being spewed by Hamas and the PA/Fatah which blames Israel and Israeli Jews for the premeditated violence that Arabs – instructed by Hamas and Fatah – are conducting against Israel and Israeli Jews.

Fortunately, the Israeli official told Sullivan to mind his own business.

And yet, in another column Glick explains that the Biden administration’s projection of weakness is creating problems in other parts of the world.

For instance, in Afghanistan and Iraq:

In Afghanistan and Iraq, violent attacks against U.S. forces are rising steeply. From January through April, attacks on U.S. forces increased 40%. President Joe Biden’s announcement that the U.S. will withdraw its forces from the country by September 11, the 20th anniversary of the jihadist attacks on the U.S. worsened the situation by communicating a message of profound American weakness and defeatism. The Taliban, al Qaeda and Iran clearly believe they are now free to humiliate and bleed the U.S. as they take control of the country.

Also in Iraq, militias now feel emboldened to attack American bases. Naturally, you do not know about this. The American media is simply ignoring it.

In Iraq, Iranian-controlled Shiite militias launched three missile strikes against U.S. bases in the past week. Hoping to avoid confrontation with Iran as its emissaries appease it in Vienna, the Biden administration is assiduously avoiding acknowledging that Iran is behind the attacks, and so it guarantees that more attack will soon follow. As in Afghanistan, Iran reads U.S. behavior as an invitation to strike with immunity.

In Lebanon, Glick reports:

While turning a blind eye to Syria, the Biden administration continues to empower the Lebanese armed forces and government – both wholly controlled by Iran through Hezbollah. Last month, the administration transferred armored trucks valued at $14 million to the Hezbollah-controlled Lebanese military and asked that Congress provide financial assistance to the government.

As for Abraham Accords, in the face of feckless American leadership, they are beginning to unravel:

Just months ago, hope abounded that Saudi Arabia would join the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan in the Abraham peace accords with Israel. But the picture is now reversed. Recognizing the U.S. has changed sides, the Saudis no longer believe that with Israel they can contain Iran. So now they are hoping to cut a deal with the ayatollahs.

And also, regarding the relationship between Israel and the UAE:

Ties between Israel and the UAE are also showing signs of stress. Last week, the UAE joined the anti-Israel cavalcade, releasing a statement condemning Israel for quelling Arab violence against Jews in Jerusalem. And this week reports emerged that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamed Javad Zarif paid a visit to the Emirates.

And then, remember when we were told that we needed to restore good relations with the European Union. Remember when we were told that the Trump administration was too harsh on the poor put-upon Europeans. Well, now we have Joe Biden in the White House. The result, the EU is being more open about its anti-Israeli bias. After all, during the Trump administration it had quietly refused to join the Abraham Accords and had continued to support Iran:

Thursday the EU and the governments of most major EU states along with the Biden State Department issued statements condemning Israel and insisting that Israel’s control over its unified capital along with Judea and Samaria is “illegal.” Whatever is coming next week will be the first expression of a coordinated Palestinian-Western assault against Israeli control over Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria since Biden entered office.

So, those who voted for Biden should be slightly aware of what they voted for.