Vice President Kamala Harris’ remarks regarding her meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may seem keen to the nuance of the Israel-Palestine conflict upon initial impressions. She appeared to balance on the political tightrope with both a commitment to supporting Israel in its defense, condemning Hamas, and expressing concern for the humanitarian situation of the civilians in Gaza.
However, VP Harris’ insistence on a ceasefire deal to assuage the outcry from U.S. support of Israel’s campaign against Hamas ultimately undermines her statement of “unwavering commitment” to Israel and its security. To pledge support for Israel and yet propose a ceasefire without a strategy to combat our greatest common enemy, Iran, is to neglect our great responsibility as a democratic pillar for the sake of public image.
In his speech before Congress, Netanyahu reminded the U.S. that “Israel is merely a tool” used by Iran. “The main war, the real war, is with America.” The Biden administration lacks a coherent Iran policy to crush the shadow regime behind Hamas and Islamic militant proxies in the Middle East. Without a strategy to isolate Iran from its resources, a ceasefire will only embolden more resistance and violence against Israel as a democratic stalwart in the Middle East.
Unless measures are taken to weaken the Iranian regime backing these militant Islamist groups VP Harris claims to condemn, disarming Israel will only embolden Iran and its proxies. Under the Biden administration, former President Trump’s tough Iran policies were undermined in an attempt to revive the former Iran nuclear deal, the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Trump’s 2018 maximum pressure campaign of harsh economic sanctions – more than “any other Administration in U.S. history” – was scrapped, easing the chokehold on Iran’s revenue and trade. Since President Biden took office, Iran has built its nuclear arsenal and has dodged IAEA monitoring while “conduct[ing] enrichment activities that are not in line with its long-term enrichment and enrichment R&D plan.”
Iran now has enough weapon-grade enriched uranium to build a nuclear device within 12 days, and continues to profit from illicit arms trade with Russia and oil exports to China adding up to $35.8B in revenue just in the past year. Netanyahu called the pro-Hamas protestors taking over U.S. college campuses and defacing monuments “Iran’s useful idiots,” a succinct nod to the foothold Iran is now gaining in the U.S. as it grows in resources and strength.
As the Iran threat grows by the day, the Biden administration seems to lack any comprehensive or even coherent strategy to combat the looming shadow of adversarial alliances that threaten more instability in the Middle East and into our homeland. As President Biden’s age and fragility is amplified on the world stage, U.S. leadership is not projecting strength but weakness, inviting aggression from adversaries as Americans await the election in November.
We must remember that the mass civilian casualties taking place in Gaza are because of Hamas. Does Israel have a responsibility to minimize civilian casualties? Absolutely. Has Israel fallen short of this responsibility? At times, yes, the World Central Kitchen incident being one hallmark example but such is the fog of war. At the same time, Israel’s greatest responsibility is to its own country and the protection of its population from terrorism.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health, an agency of the Hamas-controlled government, continues to report on the mass civilian casualties since October 7th. The numbers and images of devastation are heartbreaking at 39,000 lives lost, and we cannot become numb to the human suffering in the Gaza Strip. However, the health ministry does not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths, and it also doesn’t report on how civilians are killed. Because they can’t. Hamas embeds itself in the civilian population to limit the Israeli Defense Force’s (IDF) “freedom of action” and to paint Israel as “an aggressor that indiscriminately strikes civilians”, a hallmark of terrorist strategy that we seem to forget and are unfortunately falling for.
The war raging in the Middle East cannot be solved overnight. The potential for wider conflict just increased following the targeted killings of two top Hamas and Hezbollah leaders in Iran and Lebanon. These necessary and justified strikes against two of the masterminds behind October 7th, are the type of strong, disciplined projections of hard power that can also re-establish deterrence. The Biden administration must remember peace cannot be achieved through weakness
As nice as a ceasefire sounds, it will not solve the issue of terrorism proliferation in the Middle East. It may ease human suffering for a temporary window, but it will ultimately come back with a vengeance. Hamas and Hezbolloah will rearm. Iran will continue to fund the poison of militant Islamic ideology in the Middle East and in our homeland if the lack of consequences from the Biden administration remain. If the U.S. truly supports Israel – as VP Harris claims – we must have a tough Iran policy to attack terrorism at the root, urging for a ceasefire alone will not be enough.