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Can Israel Afford to Stand Up to America?

(JNS) Melanie Phillips - The Biden administration has made Israel slow down its attempt to destroy Hamas in Gaza, repeatedly forcing the Israelis into paralyzing ceasefire negotiations that have given Hamas the upper hand and insisting on humanitarian aid supplies, most of which were stolen by Hamas to strengthen itself. In addition, the U.S. forced Israel not to take early preemptive action against Hizbullah in Lebanon, which has launched hundreds of missile and rocket strikes on northern Israel, displacing more than 60,000 Israelis from their homes while burning large swathes of the Galilee. Even when Iran fired a barrage of rockets and drones at Israel in April and America and others scrambled to help knock them out, the U.S. stopped Israel from responding robustly. Against this dire backdrop, Prime Minister Netanyahu is going to America in three weeks to address Congress. Netanyahu has a moral duty to explain to Congress and the American people the dire consequences of the Biden administration's appeasement of Iran, why Israel is fighting a war for its survival unlike any other since its foundation, and that the seven-front war against it is merely the opening shot in Iran's war against America and the West. Netanyahu's critics fail to acknowledge that he is a supremely cautious politician. He rarely airs his grievances with the U.S. in public. When he does so, it's because he feels he has no other option. That's why he addressed Congress in 2015 in an attempt to head off President Obama's nuclear deal with Iran. It's why he outed the Biden administration for holding up the delivery of weapons essential to the war effort. His intended audience isn't just U.S. lawmakers and the American people. It's also the Arab and Muslim world. For what inspires aggression and war in the Middle East is above all the perception of weakness. If Israel is seen to be bullied into surrender, the Arab and Muslim world will smell that weakness. The Arabs may accordingly retreat from their recent historic overtures of friendship or Iran will move in for the kill. It is therefore essential that Israel is seen to be standing up to America. The writer is a columnist for The Times (UK).
2024-07-07 00:00:00
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