President Biden: Israel Not Doing Enough To Secure A Hostage Deal
[guest post by Dana]
Just one day after the bodies of six Israeli hostages who had been killed by Hamas were discovered, President Biden made a rather egregious comment when asked if he believed that Prime Minister Netanyahu is doing enough to secure a deal for the release of the remaining hostages. While he expressed “devastation and outrage” over the killing of the hostages, he was pointed in his criticism of PM Netanyahu:
President Biden on Monday said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not doing enough to secure a hostage deal, adding pressure on the Israeli leader to reach a cease-fire agreement after six more hostages were found dead in Gaza over the weekend.
Biden was asked by reporters outside the White House on Monday if Netanyahu was doing enough to reach a hostage release agreement, to which he said, “No.”
When asked if mediators are prepared to present a final hostage deal this week to both Israel and Hamas, Biden said, “We are very close to that,” adding, “Hope springs eternal.”
Here’s what I don’t understand: Why is the burden to do something placed on Israel rather than a global increase of pressure on the depraved terrorist organization? Why is Israel blamed in this and not Hamas? Does President Biden really believe that PM Netanyahu isn’t doing enough? Look, we can agree that to one degree or another, PM Netanyahu has been caught up in the politics of this mess, no doubt. But can we agree that he is not actively preventing the hostages from being released? And I would ask: with any sort of exchange deal or ceasefire, what evidence has been demonstrated by Hamas that would lead anyone to believe that they are a trustworthy entity? Why should Israel trust that they will release the remaining hostages rather than kill them, no matter what/who is in turn exchanged? This is just ridiculous. If Hamas isn’t cut off at the head, the Palestinian people will never be free and will continue to live under the boot of Hamas. And Israel will forever remain under threat 24/7. There is no decency, no functioning moral compass, nothing righteous, or anything that would suggest any humanity within the members of Hamas. To the contrary. And yet the fools and idiots in the U.S. seem to believe otherwise.
PM Netanyahu responded to the accusation that he wasn’t doing enough to secure the hostages release:
Maximum pressure should be put on Hamas. pic.twitter.com/kQtTFzEUHG
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) September 2, 2024
“Hamas probably can’t believe its luck-or the lack of moral seriousness by its enemies. The terrorists murder six Israeli hostages, including one dual-citizen American, and Israel is suddenly under pressure to make concessions-to Hamas.”
–Dana
Hello.
Dana (0965ad) — 9/4/2024 @ 1:28 pm“We are very close to that,” and “Hope springs eternal” are contradictory statements unless Biden by “We are very close to that,” is referring only to the presentation of yet another proposed agreement, and “Hope springs eternal” to the chances that anything will come of it.
because the hostages are useful to Hamas, but that also means they will never release them all
Indeed the deal Netanyahu accepted called for only about a third to be released, while piously saying the other two phases will be negotiated while the first part if going on.
I think Netanyahu has no expectations that the rest of the stages will ever happen and that’s why he is insistent that the war can be resumed when the six week period is over and hostage releases stop (and also that the Philadelphi corridor continue to be occupied by Israel so that Hamas cannot get resupplied – with Egyptian complicity – during the ceasefire)
They’re trying to paper over essential differences!
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 9/4/2024 @ 1:49 pmEvery word, Dana.
Biden is a fool for not using the power of his office to pressure Hamas to give up hostages and to give up their war.
Also, Biden is a fool for tying Ukraine’s hands by not letting them bomb Russian military targets inside Russia. It’s one reason why Putin was able to get away with murdering 50-plus in a terrorist missile attack of school and hospital in Poltava. The Lithuanian FM is correct, that “Russian planes are better protected by Western guarantees than are Ukrainian civilians”.
Biden’s visionless foreign policy incompetence is maddening.
Paul Montagu (01ae08) — 9/4/2024 @ 1:52 pmHow would the world increase the pressure on Hamas-take direct military action beyond what Israel has already done? Take military action against the countries that support Hamas? Hamas doesn’t care what Gazans think, nor does it care what the world thinks. Hamas knows it can wait out Israel, and let Israel worry about its own public opinion.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/4/2024 @ 2:05 pmWhat cards does Biden hold that would compel Hamas to give up the hostages and to end their war? Why would Hamas care what Biden thinks?
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/4/2024 @ 2:08 pmThe US is not a party to this conflict, it’s between the Israelis and the Gazans. There are no incentives that the US could offer to end the war. Sadly, it is not our problem.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/4/2024 @ 2:11 pmThe headisin Teheran.
I don’t think that Iran will permit the fighting to cease, and if it somehow stops, including with an Israeli victory, they are determined that war shall continue somewhere else.
(The current ceasefire proposal assumes that if there is a ceasefire with Hamas, Hezbollah will also stop since they have been claiming that the only reason the are firing rockets in in solidarity with Hamas. Even if they do, there are the Houthis, and Hamas supporters in the West Bank)
I think Iran wants there to be no finish to this war. They want to use their nuclear bomb, when it’s ready, and they need an ongoing pre-existing war to have the best chances of getting away with it,
(and putting an end to the philosophy of nuclear deterrence, whether Israel retaliates in kind and gets condemned, or whether Israel lets the Iranian regime continue.
I should say that’s it’s really China that wants that because I think it’s China that has sold the Ayatollah on the idea that, in the right circumstances, Ronald Reagan was wrong when he said that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought” and that a nuclear war can be fought successfully. If the Ayatollah didn’t think so, he would not have expended so much effort on creating a supply of highly enriched uranium.
I think Iran has tis idea because of people in the People’s Liberation Army of China. China has been doing its best to keep this war going even mediating between Hamas and Fatah, which runs the Palestinian Authority.
This in preparation for its invasion of Taiwan in or about 2027, which would be accompanied by a threat to use nuclear bombs which they want to be regarded as realistic.
And China needs some other country to be the guinea pig.)
The leadership of the Israeli army, and much of the political opposition in Israel is prepared to accept that – partially because a much bigger threat to Israel comes from Lebanon/Hezbollah and Iran.
The only thing is they are pretending to the Israeli public that it is possible to get all the hostages released via negotiation – which it isn’t no matter what Israel agrees to – and that if that doesn’t happen, it is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fault.
Nobody, except for some demonstrators in the United States, actually is assuming that, and that only by assuming that Hamas didn’t kill innocent people..
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 9/4/2024 @ 2:18 pmRip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/4/2024 @ 2:08 pm
Concessions, enforced by cutting off aid to Israel.
.
Hamas has reportedly asked the United States to guarantee that, if there is a ceasefire, accompanied by a partial release of hostages, Israel will not resume the war.
I assume the United States has so far, refused to agree to any such thing.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 9/4/2024 @ 2:24 pmNeville Chamberlain was able, in 1938, to get Czechoslovakia to agree not to fight Nazi Germany, so why shouldn’t Hamas and Iran feel that the United States has similar power over Israel?
And the incentive is disturbances in the United States.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 9/4/2024 @ 2:27 pmAre you telling me the Leader of the Free World has no power over a terrorist organization that controls a territory the size of Bakersfield? They don’t call it a bully pulpit for nothing.
Paul Montagu (01ae08) — 9/4/2024 @ 2:29 pmRip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/4/2024 @ 2:11 pm
There’s the matter of U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria and the aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean Sea.
The Biden Administration is very afraid of escalation.
Whether the United States is a party to a war with Iran depends on Iran. The enemy has a vote, as the saying goes.
Donald Trump is not entirely pulling something out of the air when he says we are in danger of World War III. He’ll probably be sure to mention that during the debate September 10.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/trump-says-conflicts-could-turn-into-world-war-iii-days-after-warning-of-israels-demise
He’s probably getting that in his official briefings.
I think he’s, at least in part basing that on the briefings he’s getting from the Biden administration. Donald Trump rarely invents something out of whole cloth – all his lies have precedents.
Remember, many of his statements originate as retweets.
Sammy Finkelman (c5132f) — 9/4/2024 @ 2:40 pmBTW Rip, Hamas still holds five Americans hostage, with impunity. That makes us part of the conflict.
Paul Montagu (01ae08) — 9/4/2024 @ 2:41 pmPaul Montagu (01ae08) — 9/4/2024 @ 2:29 pm
Not without risking the lives of American troops – and this is a man who did not want to maintain control of Afghanistan with minimal casualties.
I think he could exert enormous pressure on Egypt and Qatar but doesn’t realize it, nor does he realize that both countries have power over the Hamas leadership (but may be afraid of Iran).
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 9/4/2024 @ 2:44 pm@6
Israel being one of closest allies notwithstanding…we have US citizens who were murdered by Hamas and some still captive.
So, I say it’s “our problem”.
whembly (477db6) — 9/4/2024 @ 2:53 pmA bully pulpit is only convincing if the other side wants to listen. What could Biden possibly say that would compel Hamas to suddenly change course? Threaten annihilation? Israel has already destroyed most the Gaza. Offer money? Political suicide before an election. Recognize Palestinian statehood? Ditto.
Unless you are proposing the US “send in the Marines” to rescue any surviving hostages (assuming we know where they are), the Israelis are in a much better position to rescue any remaining hostages, not the US.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/4/2024 @ 3:59 pmNone of which has anything to do with the Gaza war directly. The US troops in Iraq and Syria (soon to be withdrawn) are fighting ISIS, and the naval fleet in the Med is to protect Israel from outside interference from Iran, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/4/2024 @ 4:05 pmOutside of direct, forceful military intervention by the US (assuming we know where the hostages are), it’s a problem whose solution is dependent on the Israelis.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/4/2024 @ 4:08 pmThe US can lever other countries against Hamas, including primarily Qatar and Iran, if Biden has the stones to do it. We can also be further engaged with Israeli intelligence ops, to name a few things off the top of my head.
Paul Montagu (01ae08) — 9/4/2024 @ 4:12 pmSmall beer; do you really think Iran will change their minds about us? What leverage do we have with Iran? Threaten them with a new Mideast war? With our backing of Israel, why would Iran listen to the US? And Qatar has given Hamas a safe haven; again, what leverage does the US have over them?
As far as our cooperation with Israel special ops, we have no idea what is going on behind the scenes.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/4/2024 @ 4:22 pmI used the “lever” for a reason, Rip, as in reapplying sanctions, blowing up Houthi belligerents, sinking some uppity Iranian naval vessels, etc.
Paul Montagu (01ae08) — 9/4/2024 @ 4:53 pmYou would need to something far more draconian that re-applying sanctions or sinking a few boats (your favorite). I would suggest bombing major cities and occupying territory. Unless the sanctions were so tight people began starving, I doubt they would be coercive enough. Everything you’ve suggested has been done before but Iran still exists.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/4/2024 @ 4:59 pmAgain, how would sanctions on Iran and sinking their Navy affect Hamas?
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/4/2024 @ 5:01 pmThe Palestinians are a doomed people.
But, yes, sure, the instinct to survive, as an individual and as a species, is strong, and they still cling in there fighting for every last breath.
So, yes, I suppose you could “coerce” them by threatening to cut off that last breath a little sooner.
nk (53764d) — 9/4/2024 @ 5:09 pmIran sends Hamas hundreds of millions every year. Same with Qatar. Making them pay sends a clear message.
Paul Montagu (01ae08) — 9/4/2024 @ 5:13 pmAnd if your preferred “leverage” doesn’t work, the US would need to escalate its coercive force on Iran-bombing cities, sending hundreds of thousands of troops to occupy territory, etc. The US would need to be willing to bring Dresden-level destruction upon Iran.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/4/2024 @ 5:15 pmFrom Shaiel Ben-Ephraim:
Sam G (fd752d) — 9/4/2024 @ 5:31 pmWar ends, hostages come home, election, bottle deposit crook kicked out of office by voters so netanyahu says no deal.
asset (276846) — 9/4/2024 @ 9:47 pm@17
If we know where they were, the US military should intervene.
whembly (477db6) — 9/5/2024 @ 6:24 amI think our society has been trained to not recognize simple evil when it sees it. People can see the awfulist things and just deny or claim peopl are engaing in politics when they say something. This applies to hamas. It applies to Iran. It apples to Putin. It applies to Trump.
This is a cultural thing — part of the desire to see the best in people. It’s just, with certain folks or movements, there is no best.
Appalled (3e6132) — 9/5/2024 @ 7:10 am@29 Are you seriously comparing Trump to Putin/Iran/Hamas?
whembly (477db6) — 9/5/2024 @ 7:23 amThat’s a big if, which also assumes they are still alive. If the US did intervene, no doubt they would be immediately executed by Hamas. Again, Israel is already on the ground in Gaza, they know the territory better than the US, and they have the expertise. There is no need for US intervention.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/5/2024 @ 9:58 amRip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/5/2024 @ 9:58 am
They would attempt to do so.
That can largely be prevented by threatening execution (or at least permanent detention with the possibility of execution) for anyone who kills prisoners, especially when they are near liberation.
Warning of punishment and opposition to the release of any terrorists with blood on their hands could help. It could also help if the guards hanged so that the last guards hasn’t killed anyone in front of those people they were guarding.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 9/5/2024 @ 3:09 pmAppalled (3e6132) — 9/5/2024 @ 7:10 am
It’s called, in Hebrew, “Dan L’kaf zchut” (Judge on the side of merit.)
It doesn’t, or shouldn’t, apply to certain known to be evil people.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 9/5/2024 @ 3:14 pmDo you seriously think the terrorists of October 7th will be cowed by the threat of death or long term imprisonment? I daresay any American hostages would be executed the minute it became known the US troops were in Gaza. Without witnesses, the US would have no idea who did the killing.
Israel has always released terrorists in exchange for hostages. It’s one of their biggest faults.
I have no idea what you are trying to say with your last sentence.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/5/2024 @ 3:23 pmYes. Yahya Sinwar has asked for a promise not to kill him.
And I’m speaking more of the people who will actually be the executioners.
The average Hamas member is not a suicide bomber.
The real question is can the threat of execution if (but only if) they kill prisoners, sound real to them?
They could testify against each other, and there could be other ways of knowing.
Anyway, the possibility alone is enough to deter.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 9/5/2024 @ 3:43 pmIn a Commentary email mailing list sent by John Podhoretz it says that Biden and Harris have stopped saying the lie blaming hamas for no ceasefire (citing something that appeared in Axios and they wonder what happened to bring this about,
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 9/6/2024 @ 2:53 pm