The pre-WWII declaration usually attributed to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain didn't work out for Europe. It hasn't worked out for Israel either, where now the Jewish nation may also have to overcome the policy decisions of one of its chief allies: the United States.
Fellowship steps in to help after Hamas attacksCharlie Butts, AFN.net After the weekend attacks in southern Israel by Hamas, a well-known relief organization is on the ground in war-torn Israel proving help for injured and grieving people. Yael Eckstein, who leads International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, tells AFN the group is helping provide everything from food for the elderly to bullet-proof vests for first responders. “The level of not only emotional pain and anguish is cause for every single person who's lost loved ones,” she says, “and is going funeral to funeral for people that they know.” Eckstein, who has witnessed many tragedies in Israel, says the system there has “collapsed” after the Hamas attack. That is why Fellowship is attempting to help however and wherever possible, she says, such as providing ambulances to transport wounded Israelis to hospitals. “There's so much that could happen in a second and actually we always say times of peace are not times of peace in Israel. It's times of quiet,” she says. “And what are times of quiet in Israel?” An opportunity to prepare for the next war.” |
Fox News reported Wednesday morning that U.S. Special Forces were on standby for possible engagement in the Israel-Hamas war. President Joe Biden pledged full support to Israel on Tuesday – but his comments did not mention Iran, which has long supplied money and other support to Hamas and is believed by many be heavily involved in the current conflict.
On behalf of her fellow Israeli citizens, journalist and author Caroline Glick expressed gratitude to Biden.
"He gave an important statement today, reinstating his full support for Israel and his readiness to aid Israel in any way necessary saying it was his highest priority. We appreciate that very much," Glick said on Washington Watch Tuesday.
"[But] the thing that's mainly concerning for Israel [is] the day before the Hamas attack, Secretary of State Tony Blinken approved another $75 million in aid to the Palestinians – and advancing the cause of the Palestinians against Israel has been a central focus of the Biden administration."
Support for the Palestinians means support for Hamas, which has governed the Gaza Strip since elections in 2006 when voters ousted Fatah – a political party that had dominated Parliament and favored a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli question. By contrast, the founding charter of Hamas commits it to the destruction of the Jewish state.
According to Glick, many predicted this day because Israel did not impose its will then.
"Yes, Israel, like the United States, our national security elites, such as they are, were seduced by the idea that we could define our enemy rather than listen to our enemies and respond to them and their nature," Glick told show host Tony Perkins.
"The disengagement from Gaza was an insane policy," she continued. "It was obvious at the time; many, many, many Israelis, including myself, were warning against it all along and opposed it with every fiber in our being because we understood that it was going to lead to this, and [Ariel] Sharon [Israel's prime minister at the time] simply refused to listen."
Biden appointments are dangerous for Israel
Glick argues that Biden has further distanced the U.S. from Israel with his policy of appeasement toward Iran – most recently his decision to allow Iran to access $6 billion in frozen assets – as well as his choices for key policy advisors.
"The administration has also made it, until now, a key goal of their policy to integrate Iran into the Middle East through nuclear appeasement," she said.
Glick said Hady Amr, Biden's envoy to the Palestinians, has a long history of supporting Palestinian terror against Israel and now "has a very senior position" within the Biden administration.
"The support America is now showing for Israel? We're very happy to receive it. It does empower Israel – at least I think it does strengthen our deterrence, which was obviously undermined in a horrible way on Saturday," she acknowledged. "But I think it's very important for the American people to understand that our future in this region, our existence is at stake here.
Glick said it's time for the U.S. to start treating Israel like an ally.
"The victory that Israel needs to win will dwarf the victory we won in the [1967] Six-Day War," she explained. "As Prime Minister Netanyahu said, 'We have to rearrange the pieces on the chess board that we're living on.' That means recognizing that Hamas is a proxy of Iran, as is Hezbollah in Lebanon; and that Iran is directing this entire thing. They've ordered the strikes, and they're paying for them. Ninety-three percent of Hamas' budget is paid for by Iran.
"In order for Israel to truly remain safe, we have to obliterate the Hamas regime," she stated.
Glick: This isn't only about Hamas
Obliteration can't end with Hamas, Glick argued. Israel, she said, needs to take out Hezbollah and has to overcome Biden's appeasement of Iran.
"Hezbollah has 250,000 missiles pointed at Israel, and it cannot end this war with those missiles being pointed at Israel or shot at Israel. We have to end their threat against Israel," she said.
"Finally, it goes to Iran itself," Glick continued. "You have a country there that is a dictatorship and has been threatening the world, first and foremost Israel, and is on the cusp of nuclear weapons. Iran's steps … taken in large part thanks to the attempts of the Biden administration to appease it toward the Nuclear Finish Line, have to be pushed back to such a degree that they won't even try to do it again."
The Israeli journalist remains confident Netanyahu will carry the fight to the finish.
"We had a Holocaust-level atrocity perpetrated against the Jewish people on Saturday," she lamented. "It was something that Israel was established in order to prevent. Israelis are united in understanding that the Hamas regime in Gaza has to be utterly obliterated – and it's not just Hamas."
The Associated Press reports Israeli citizens living abroad are demonstrating unity with their country by running to the war, not away from it. Some are yearning to serve, says AP, whether that means fighting in a military reserve unit of volunteering to shuttle supplies to those in need.
Author and journalist Joel Rosenberg puts it this way: "Hamas has accomplished what [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu couldn't. They have unified the country."
