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ISRAEL GAZA WAR ON OCTOBER 7TH, HAMAS WAS 100% WRONG ... NOW ISRAEL IS SERIOUSLY WRONG TOO! Opinion Biden’s right: The U.S. should oppose Israel’s tactics in Gaza ... Strategic stupidity is creating a humanitarian disaster. Israeli tanks are seen in southern Israel after leaving the Gaza Strip near Rafah on May 11. (Heidi Levine for The Washington Post). Original article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/05/16/biden-rafah-strategy-israel-gaza-netanyahu/ Peter Burgess COMMENTARY Peter Burgess
Opinion Biden’s right: The U.S. should oppose Israel’s tactics in Gaza Strategic stupidity is creating a humanitarian disaster. By Jennifer Rubin ... Columnist May 16, 2024 at 7:45 a.m. EDT Last week, President Biden held back a single shipment of arms to Israel when, despite consistent and long-standing U.S. objections, Israel was planning an expanded assault on the city of Rafah. The Israeli government and its defenders in the United States (including members of Congress and Jewish organizations) hollered. Abandoning Israel! Helping Hamas! Nonsense. Indeed, developments suggest Biden’s reaction was well calibrated, considering Israel apparently lacks a strategic plan for victory. Sign up for the Prompt 2024 newsletter for opinions on the biggest questions in politics If Israel has no plan to hold and govern territory, and Hamas simply backfills areas that are vacated, Israel’s tactical moves and resulting casualties become highly objectionable. That would mean Israel is killing civilians, putting its own soldiers at risk and perpetuating a humanitarian catastrophe for no permanent gain in security. That seems to be what’s happening, according to a CNN article this week: “The Israeli military has renewed its fighting in northern Gaza where it previously claimed to have dismantled Hamas’ command structure.” As that report notes, Hamas’s reentry in “pockets [Israel] had supposedly cleared … renews questions about its long-term military strategy.” Veteran Middle East negotiator Dennis Ross tweeted, “One thing is clear: the fact that the IDF has had to go back into Jabalya, Zeitoun, and soon Khan Younis is a reminder that no plan existed for what would replace Hamas.” He added: “Yes, Hamas is weakened but without an alternative to it, it will fill the vacuum. And Israel needs an answer.” The White House had presciently warned about exactly this problem. “The Biden administration does not see it likely or possible that Israel will achieve ‘total victory’ in defeating Hamas in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said on Monday,” Reuters reported. “While U.S. officials have urged Israel to help devise a clear plan for the governance post-war Gaza, Campbell’s comments are the clearest to date from a top U.S. official effectively admitting that Israel’s current military strategy won’t bring the result that it is aiming for.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken has become more explicitly critical of Israel in public. “One, you have to have a clear, credible plan to protect civilians, which we haven’t seen,” he told Margaret Brennan on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “Second, we also need to see a plan for what happens after this conflict in Gaza ... is over.” With Hamas returning to places Israel had previously cleared, Israel might “have some initial success, but potentially at an incredibly high cost to civilians,” Blinken said, and that success is “one that is not durable, one that’s not sustainable.” Moreover, Israel “will be left holding the bag on an enduring insurgency, because a lot of armed Hamas will be left no matter what they do in Rafah,” the secretary said, leaving behind “a vacuum that’s likely to be filled by chaos, by anarchy, and ultimately by Hamas again.” So far, Blinken added, the administration has seen no credible plan to address this dilemma. U.S. policymakers are not the only ones sounding the alarm. The Times of Israel reports: “[Israel Defense Forces] Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi tore into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during security consultations over the weekend for failing to develop and announce a so-called ‘day after’ strategy for who will rule Gaza after the war, according to a Saturday evening Hebrew news report.” Echoing U.S. criticism, Halevi told an Israel news channel, “We are now operating once again in Jabaliya. As long as there’s no diplomatic process to develop a governing body in the [Gaza] Strip that isn’t Hamas, we’ll have to launch campaigns again and again in other places to dismantle Hamas’s infrastructure.” Meanwhile, the Biden administration issued an inconclusive report last week finding that “it was ‘reasonable to assess’ that Israel violated international law using U.S. weapons in its military campaign in Gaza, but found there was insufficient information to draw a firm conclusion in any specific instances, meaning American military aid could continue to flow to the country,” The Post reported. Having made its point, the White House later approved transfer of more than $1 billion in military aid, defying critics who claimed the president had “abandoned” Israel. So, Israel rolls into Rafah with no plan for success, its tactics under severe scrutiny and the fate unknown of the hostages who, if they are still alive, are surviving under deplorable conditions. No wonder tens of thousands of Israelis take to the streets each week in protest. War for war’s sake might meet Netanyahu’s personal objective to remain in power indefinitely, but it does not satisfy our (or Israel’s) objectives. It might also not comply with international law, which requires that any civilian casualties not be disproportionate to the military objectives obtained. Where does that leave the administration? Biden and Blinken need to clearly articulate that, because they support Israel’s objective of dismantling Hamas, they must insist that Israel present a strategy designed to attain that end. Biden should continue to use all tools at his disposal to compel Israel’s conduct to align with our mutual national security objectives and the laws of war. Given the circumstances, true friends of Israel should rethink knee-jerk objections to Biden’s efforts to steer Israel toward a strategy with achievable, durable results. Blindly endorsing and supporting Netanyahu’s ill-conceived approach — one that’s increasingly objectionable to Israel’s own military — serves neither Israel nor the United States. Opinion by Jennifer Rubin ... Jennifer Rubin writes reported opinion for The Washington Post. She is the author of “Resistance: How Women Saved Democracy from Donald Trump” and is host of the podcast Jen Rubin's 'Green Room.' Twitter OPINIONS ON THE ISRAEL-GAZA WAR The U.S. assembles the pieces of a possible Gaza war endgame OpinionThe U.S. assembles the pieces of a possible Gaza war endgame The ICC wants to arrest Israeli and Hamas leaders. Experts weigh in. OpinionThe ICC wants to arrest Israeli and Hamas leaders. Experts weigh in. On Gaza, Biden is right and Netanyahu is wrong OpinionOn Gaza, Biden is right and Netanyahu is wrong Biden’s right: The U.S. should oppose Israel’s tactics in Gaza OpinionBiden’s right: The U.S. should oppose Israel’s tactics in Gaza How is any of this making Israel more secure? OpinionHow is any of this making Israel more secure? Enough mediating. America should deploy its might against Hamas. OpinionEnough mediating. America should deploy its might against Hamas. Biden’s confrontation with Netanyahu was unavoidable OpinionBiden’s confrontation with Netanyahu was unavoidable Social media has played a huge role in the coverage of the Gaza conflict OpinionSocial media has played a huge role in the coverage of the Gaza conflict The crackdown on campus protests has gone way too far OpinionThe crackdown on campus protests has gone way too far After the war, what kind of future awaits Israelis and Palestinians? OpinionAfter the war, what kind of future awaits Israelis and Palestinians? Call the campus protests what they are OpinionCall the campus protests what they are Columbia is teaching its students the wrong lessons OpinionColumbia is teaching its students the wrong lessons Democratic politicians aren’t looking for student protesters’ support OpinionDemocratic politicians aren’t looking for student protesters’ support How civil rights law distorts the anti-Zionism vs. antisemitism debate OpinionHow civil rights law distorts the anti-Zionism vs. antisemitism debate We’re going back to Gaza to feed people. Here’s what we need from Israel. OpinionWe’re going back to Gaza to feed people. Here’s what we need from Israel. A morning with student protesters at George Washington University OpinionA morning with student protesters at George Washington University Gaza-Israeli peace will come only by putting people before states OpinionGaza-Israeli peace will come only by putting people before states For many this year, Israeli hostages were on the Seder guest list OpinionFor many this year, Israeli hostages were on the Seder guest list MAGA is using Israel to undermine Ukraine, harming them both Opinion MAGA is using Israel to undermine Ukraine, harming them both A stunning victory with the shield creates an opening for Israel Opinion A stunning victory with the shield creates an opening for Israel

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