Biden rushing off to Israel on a mission to save his presidency was a stupid idea.
We are told that Biden went there to support Israel, while at the same time, his spokesman declares he is going there to ask Israel some “tough questions.” In his speech there–broadcasting live as I write this–he also keeps chiding Israel for its strong response and suggested that Israel is not upholding Western values, although he couches it in slightly softer terms than that.
NEW: Traveling to Israel aboard Air Force One, White House National Security Council spokesman said President Biden is going to ask @netanyahu some “tough questions.”
When asked, “Are there any initial findings or belief from the U.S. about who was behind “the hospital… pic.twitter.com/iwli5r30Dn
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) October 18, 2023
He did come out and defend Israel from the blood libel that it bombed a hospital, making it clear that the evidence suggests that it was a rocket fired by the Palestinians that misfired. All the evidence is not out yet, but it’s pretty clear that everything Hamas has said about the incident is a complete lie–and one that was broadcast around the world by an MSM that is desperate to delegitimize Israel.
Ed gives his take here, and Beege will have more later.
None of this is that to which I referred–Biden’s stupidity. Both of these moves are consistent with the Democrat’s tightrope walk on the Palestinia-Israeli conflict, in which the Democrats are trying to keep the loyalty of their pro-Israel supporters while satisfying the anti-Semites who are coming to dominate the party.
No, what was truly stupid was the weakness he had signaled during the trip.
Arab leaders all canceled on him, refusing to meet the president, proving that he is too weak to command the respect of our Arab partners in the region. When even Jordan, about as moderate an Arab country as you can find, won’t even grant the courtesy of a meeting with the President of the United States, we look extremely weak.
And then there is this:
Biden read directly from a script during his most important moment in Israel today. pic.twitter.com/TruIVeJZiY
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) October 18, 2023
Biden looks like a bumbling idiot, which he has always been, and like a dementia patient who can’t maintain a train of thought for 30 seconds.
Were he a grandpa being visited by his family in a nursing home this would be expected, and we would all be saddened by a once-vital man’s decline.
But he is the President of the United States, who can barely talk when visiting in public with a world leader in the middle of a war for survival. The stakes couldn’t be higher, and the ability to play for them on Biden’s part couldn’t be much lower.
This trip was clearly intended to boost Biden’s standing both at home and abroad, and it will accomplish the opposite. Biden looks weak and decrepit, and his policy aims are muddled. He insists on referring to Israelis and Palestinians as equally victimized in the conflict, acknowledging Hamas’ terror, but implying that Israel’s actions are disproportionate to the crimes committed against its civilians.
Biden, and by extension America, look weak. This trip will harm Biden’s political standing in the long run. If his advisors intended this trip to save his presidency, it was a bust.
Stupid, both as foreign policy and as a domestic political Hail Mary.
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