US Elections and Israel Support Are Not Compatible

Following the initial spate of support for Israel in the wake of the Hamas October 7 massacres, the US administration has gradually walked back its support for the Jewish state.

That initial support was unfortunately – from the viewpoint of the Democratic Party – unavoidable as the full savagery of the Hamas litany of rapes, gang-rapes, beheadings, burning of people alive, disembowelling, mutilation of victims’ sexual organs, bombings, point-blank shootings in the back and the back of the head, kidnappings and public degradation of hostages, some as young as 1 year old, left the civilised world gasping in horror.

Even the “liberals” in the Democratic Party felt compelled to grudgingly show some semblance of support, or at least a lack of criticism of Hamas, as the Israeli military responded to the unspeakable horrors of that day.

Hamas groupies have successfully flipped the narrative

Today that’s all changed. As the Palestinians and their obedient choir of supporters recovered from the first blow to their self-image as docile victims rather than savage perpetrators, their media experts went into overdrive, explaining away the horrific brutality of Hamas and demanding that Israel stop protecting itself. Hamas however doubled down and repeated its smug assertion that given the chance, it would carry out October 7-like attacks “a second, a third, a fourth time until Israel is exterminated”. That didn’t sit well with the image their overseas media industry wanted to create, so they had to quickly think up a new way to flip the narrative.

They came up with an ingenious alternative: level the field by ensuring that as many civilian Palestinians as possible died or were injured as the IDF sought out the masterminds and perpetrators of the October 7 crimes against humanity.

How? Simple. Use their own civilian population as human shields, usually at gunpoint. As the IDF took care to try and avoid harm to innocent civilians, Hamas obligingly did the needful, bombing their own civilians and showing off the dead and mutilated bodies as victims of Israeli attacks. Most of these distortion attempts have been successfully refuted by an increasingly alert Israeli military spokesperson.

Illegal – and immoral

Of course, this is not the first time the Sunni Hamas rulers of Gaza have used this illegal and immoral tactic – they have made serial use of human shields over the years because their Shia allies Hezbollah in the Lebanon have amply demonstrated that this tactic works.

And in this case it has worked admirably.

Hamas does put up a token fight now and again as the IDF pursues them in their hiding-places behind civilians in hospitals, clinics, schools, kindergartens and mosques. But this resistance is merely symbolic. Hamas’s real weapon is its unarmed civilians – and the pro-Palestinian overseas politicians and media who fall for this trick every single time. And this time is no exception.

Hamas’s main weapon – overseas politicians and media – have performed exactly as expected.

Beware of US presidents bearing gifts

None more so than US President Joe Biden, who in this election year is desperate to secure re-election as he faces mass unrest in his Democratic Party on account of his support for Israel’s right to self-defence. Predictably, despite his genuine support for the Jewish state, he has reverted to type and thrown Israel under the bus as his immediate domestic needs surmount his country’s long-term strategic and security interests. Using the full muscle of his administration’s withheld veto rights at the UN and his increasingly overt criticism of Israel during its existential war to protect its civilian citizens, he has shown Hamas and their masters in Tehran that Israel is truly alone.

The ball is now in PM Netanyahu’s court

Which leads to the inevitable question of where Israel goes from here.

The answer is straightforward. And as unpalatable to the Israeli Prime Minister as it is essential.

Bibi Netanyahu is not without his faults. Many faults. But he also has a history of having served the country in an exemplary manner over several decades. Now the time has come for him to serve one last time, and to ensure that his name goes down in history as the leader who ultimately saved his country – and the West – from the Islamist onslaught.

Bibi is probably unelectable

Whatever his past sterling achievements, Bibi Netanyahu is probably unelectable next time round. The US Democratic Party – which de facto determines Israel’s defence policy – has seen to that. Accordingly, he has nothing to lose. With his political back to the wall, he should therefore make whatever unpalatable agreement the USA foists on him in Gaza, whatever the cost.

And then turn his attention to Hezbollah. Hamas as a credible fighting force will take a long time to recover. That recovery will drain Iran’s coffers for many years to come – those smashed billion-dollar tunnels, those wrecked multimillion-dollar weapons and the costly training involved – will keep both Iran and Hamas occupied for some time.

Hezbollah on the other hand needs to be taught the same lesson that Hamas just learned: that although the IDF may not be able to root out every last terrorist, the IDF will nonetheless cause Hezbollah and their Iranian backers so much damage in terms of loss of materiel, finances and life, that it will not be militarily or financially viable for the terrorists to continue in any meaningful form for a long time to come. Israel has been able to deal Iran’s military entrenchment in Syria and the Lebanon multiple death-blows over the years, not least in recent weeks, so the IDF is perfectly capable of continuing this strategy of simultaneously tackling Hezbollah and Iran just as successfully as it did Hamas and Iran.

But this means all-out war, right?

Yes. But if Israel doesn’t take the war to Iran and its proxies, the past 70 years have taught us with utter clarity that the Islamists will instead take the war to Israel. That’s not just history – Shia Iran and Hezbollah have repeatedly said that their aim is to destroy Israel, just as Sunni Hamas have said. We should take them at their word. It is militarily far better for Israel to engage the enemy at a time and place of her choosing, because the alternative – letting them choose the time and place of their onslaught – is a recipe for disaster.

Everyone sees that – apart from self-serving politicians in the US and Europe.

Bibi Netanyahu: be the saviour of Israel. You have nothing to lose politically because unfortunately you have no political future. Do what needs to be done. Your successor as PM will doubtless continue to publicly vilify you once he or she is in power, but privately will pray to G_d to shield you forever for your role in protecting Israel for the foreseeable future.

Deal with Hezbollah. And then with Iran. Before they deal with Israel on their own timetable.