Comment

No surprises here; no reasonable person opposes Israel's preservation of its national integrity, any more than they do that of Ukraine, Taiwan, or this country. Biden suffers from the ongoing desire of Americans for their President to have a magic wand that, by waving it, will make all the bad stuff go away. These folks will start wondering sometime Friday why the Key Bridge hasn't been reopened yet and criticize Biden for that. The breaks on Israel policy come from a difference of priorities and perception: most of us prioritize Israeli territorial integrity and the minimization of Gazan civilian casualties while being less concerned about Mr. Netanyahoo's continuation in office. Those who, like the Israeli PM, confuse his integrity (non-existent) with that of his country and who toss in a bit of anti-Palestinian cultural bias, don't have as much trouble accepting the idea that several tens of thousand of dead Gazans is simply the price of eliminating Hamas as an effective player in the Middle Eastern Game of Thrones. Until the financial support that keeps Hamas going is eliminated, they, no more than ISIS or al-Queda, or any of the various other terrorist groups currently muddying the international waters, have any incentive to stop what they're doing and the notion that all of their operatives can be eliminated (killed) is as fanciful now as it has ever been. The two-state idea is probably the only potentially workable approach to 'peace' in the area but that is contingent on having effective policing of both the West Bank and Gaza that necessarily includes restraining the radical Israeli settlers who continue to push into land that is, by international agreement, not theirs. The best that Mr. Biden will be able to do is manage the tension and hope for something of a miracle.