Israel’s ongoing war against Iran and its terrorist proxies is a political problem for Democrats. While most Americans sympathize with Israel, a segment of the Democratic Party is harshly critical of the U.S. ally and, in some cases, openly pro-Hamas. This contingent is loud and heavily concentrated in the swing state of Michigan. Ever since the October 7 attacks, President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have sought to thread this needle by talking about their commitment to Israel’s defense while routinely haranguing Israel for its conduct of the war and pressuring the nation to operate with more restraint.
This tension has come into full view over the past week.
On the one hand, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that the U.S. would be sending an advanced anti-missile system to Israel, along with troops to operate it, to bolster the defense against Iran. On the other hand, Biden has been pressuring Israel into a more limited response to Iran’s second ballistic-missile attack in five months, including publicly opposing an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
In the midst of this, Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent a joint letter to Israeli officials — promptly released publicly — chastising Israel for not ensuring enough humanitarian aid in Gaza and warning that if Israel does not meet the administration’s demands within 30 days, the U.S. could suspend aid to Israel. Conveniently, this would place the potential aid-suspension date a week after the November 5 election.
In other words, Harris can spend the closing weeks of the presidential election arguing to the pro-Hamas caucus that the administration has put Israel on notice while still claiming to supporters of Israel that no decision has been made to suspend aid.
The substance of the letter places the blame for insufficient aid getting into the hands of Gazans on Israel, claiming that Israelis are creating too many barriers to aid entering the strip. Yet Israel must vet aid going in because Hamas has historically used aid deliveries to smuggle in weapons. Also, Hamas inhibits the flow of aid within Gaza, looting delivery trucks and hoarding food and supplies for their own fighters.
The Austin-Blinken letter also criticizes various steps Israel has taken against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, even though evidence points to employees of UNRWA having participated in the October 7 attacks.
While the cynicism of the Biden and Harris posture toward Israel may have some rationale in the world of Democratic politics, it makes no sense if the goal is actually to end the current Israel–Hamas conflict, free the hostages, improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and mitigate the risks of a regional war.
Preventing Israel from retaliating against Iran with sufficient force will encourage Iranians to keep sending missiles at Israel either directly or through Hezbollah, which will force Israel to respond. Threatening Israel with a suspension of military aid provides an incentive to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to dig in, reject cease-fire proposals, and further obstruct the delivery of humanitarian aid.
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