Biden and the Leftist Elites’ Obsession With Appeasing Terrorists at the Expense of Israel Won’t Bring Peace to the Middle East
The year is 2024, yet the Biden Administration’s top foreign policy and national security officials are still approaching the world as if it were 2014. Despite Hamas’ horrific October 7 attacks on Israel, the Biden Administration remains convinced that any broader peace between Israel and its neighbors hinges on Israel’s borders. This view is not only demonstrably false – as seen in the historic and hugely successful Abraham Accords – but it also contributes to the conflict we are seeing expand across the region today.
Last week at the Davos Forum – an annual gathering of self-identified “elites” who grow more disconnected with each passing year – National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan discussed his outlook on Israel and the escalating crisis in the Middle East. Even though Israel is actively engaged in a war on several fronts, Sullivan – one of the primary architects of the failed 2016 Iran Nuclear Deal – spent most of his time focusing on the importance of a potential peace process with the Palestinians, stating, “The strategy post-October 7 is that we want to see normalization [between Israel and Saudi Arabia] tied to a political horizon for the Palestinians.” Israel is fighting for its very survival – why on earth would the Biden Administration be publicly pressuring it to surrender in the face of terror? The Palestinians have refused to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist or renounce terrorism against Israel. Establishing a terrorist “state” on Israel’s border would only further increase the chances for attacks on Israel in the future.
These statements echo the same fundamental misunderstandings about the Middle East that have pervaded U.S. Administrations for years. John Kerry – poster boy for the disconnected elite – stated back in 2016, “There will be no advance and separate peace with the Arab world without the Palestinian process and Palestinian peace.” In 2011, Barack Obama stated, “A just and lasting peace can no longer be forged with one or two Arab leaders. Going forward, millions of Arab citizens have to see that peace is possible for that peace to be sustained.” As far back as 2000, Bill Clinton said, “The resolution of the issues between Palestinians and Israelis is at the core of the comprehensive effort that we all want to make for peace throughout the Middle East.” For decades, the Left’s foreign policy establishment has been convinced that all the problems of the Middle East begin with Israel and the Palestinians. This is demonstrably false: The obstacle to peace in the Middle East is Iran.
Iran, not Israel, funds Hamas and is responsible for the Hamas attacks on October 7. Iran, not Israel, funds the Houthis and is responsible for the Red Sea shipping crisis. Iran, not Israel, funds Hezbollah and is responsible for the simmering conflict to Israel’s north which threatens to expand every day. Iran, not Israel, funds proxy forces across Iraq and Syria that have made over 130 attacks on U.S. military bases since late last year.
The widespread conflict we are seeing today in the Middle East is entirely a crisis of the Biden Administration’s making. Its lax sanctions’ enforcement enabled Iran to earn tens of billions of dollars off its oil shipments (nearly all of which ended up in China, another adversary the Biden Administration has failed to deter). It paid $6 billion to the Iranian regime just to get back five hostages. Now, far more American hostages are in the hands of Iran’s proxies, and that money is being used by the very forces who wish Israel and America’s destruction.
Treating some “two-state solution” as the only way to achieve peace in the region has encouraged Iran’s terror and rendered the Biden Administration incapable of formulating a coherent, effective response. The Administration continues to demean America by trying to negotiate with the Ayatollah’s wicked regime, even as it chastises Israel for taking necessary measures to defend itself.
In the Trump Administration, we did not achieve historic peace agreements in the Middle East by forcing Israel to compromise on its security needs, nor by empowering the terrorist group Hamas or the broken and corrupt Palestinian Authority. We did so by applying maximum pressure to the regime in Iran and backing up our words with action – like the elimination of Qasem Soleimani. This convinced other Arab nations the United States was a trustworthy partner that would have their backs rather than actively empower Iran’s tyranny, and it led to the Abraham Accords – which saw historic peace treaties between Israel and its neighbors – and promised a brighter, more peaceful and prosperous future for the region.
The Biden Administration has set those efforts back due to its inability to admit that its cherished, ivory-tower view of Middle East affairs is plainly wrong. I hope the war we are now seeing across the region will convince it to change course. Given NSA Sullivan’s recent comments, though, it seems this Administration will cling to its dangerous delusions until the American people choose new leaders for our country.