Biden’s speech on the brutal Hamas atrocities was a good speech, not in that he delivered it well or especially convincingly (let’s not even rehash the invented Golda Meir story) but it appeared to have been written by someone who cared enough to inject it with moral outrage and certainty. It would have been a better speech for someone else.But rhetoric is relatively cheap in politics. More significant than the moral outrage are the actual policy statements. As many noted, there’s no mention of Iran. That’s not surprising as the administration’s position is not to mention Iran.Here however is a policy moment that cuts against the thrust of the speech. Policy, unlike rhetoric, is all about specifics.“My administration has consulted closely with Congress throughout this crisis. And when Congress returns, we’re going to ask them to take urgent action to fund the national security requirements of our critical partners.”See anything odd here? Partners. Plural.What partners? This speech is about supporting Israel in its fight against Hamas. Who are these other partners?This one isn’t hard to guess. Biden ran into problems getting aid to Ukraine approved in the House. There was talk that he wanted to link aid to Israel to aid to Ukraine. Take that little added “s” as a strong signifier that it’s going to happen.So what that really means is pressuring pro-Israel people to lobby House members to approve an aid package for Ukraine or military aid to Israel gets delayed at a crucial juncture. Which means Biden is using Israel to set a trap for House Republicans. So despite his assertion that “this is not about party or politics” assume that it is.That’s a lot to hang on a single ‘s’, right? Biden misspeaks all the time.Maybe, but we were warned that this was coming.The White House is considering a move to attach Ukraine funding to a request for urgent aid to Israel, according to several people familiar with the deliberations, in the hopes that such a pairing would increase the chance that Congress would approve aid to Kyiv despite growing opposition from House Republicans.
No final decisions have been made on whether to link the requests, said two senior administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. One of the officials said such a move could make sense because it “jams the far right,” which is firmly opposed to more Ukraine aid but strongly supportive of aid to Israel.That extra ‘s’ suggests that Biden has moved closer to a final decision. And really why not? Much like the government shutdowns, it puts the onus on House Republicans. If the package succeeds, Biden gets a win, if it fails, he can use it to attack Republicans. Israel gets exploited as bait for this trap by a guy who pretends to care, but actually doesn’t.Ukraine – Israel aid linkage means that Israel facing the most significant war in a generation gets taken hostage to secure a win for Biden and Ukraine.
Biden’s speech about the Hamas atrocities, while not particularly good in terms of delivery or convincingness (let’s avoid rehashing the invented Golda Meir tale), was nonetheless a good one. It appeared to be written by someone who took the time to inject moral outrage and certainty into it. It would have been better for someone else. But rhetoric is relatively cheap when it comes to politics. The actual policy statements are more important than the moral outrage. Many have noted that Iran is not mentioned. It’s not surprising, as the administration’s policy is to not mention Iran. Here is however a policy moment which cuts against the thrust. “Politics, unlike rhetoric, is about specifics.” My administration has worked closely with Congress during this crisis. When Congress returns, we will ask them to take immediate action to fund the needs of our critical partners in national security. Partners. Plural.What partners? This speech is about Israel’s fight against Hamas. This one is easy to guess. Biden had trouble getting the House to approve aid for Ukraine. Talks were made that he would link aid to Israel with aid to Ukraine. Take the little “s” to mean that it will happen. So what this really means is that pro-Israel people are being urged to lobby House Members to approve a package of aid for Ukraine, or military aid to Israel is delayed at a crucial time. Biden is trapping House Republicans with Israel. It’s not about party politics or party affiliations, despite Biden’s claim. That’s a big’s’ to hang so much on. Biden is a bad speaker.
Two senior administration officials who spoke under the condition of anonymity in order to discuss private conversations said that no final decisions had been made about whether to link the requests. One official said that such a move would make sense, as it would “jam the far right,” who are firmly against more Ukraine aid and strongly supportive of Israel aid. Why not? It’s the same as the government shutdowns. If the package is successful, Biden wins, but if it is not, he can use this to attack Republicans. Israel is used as bait by a guy pretending to care but not really caring.
