My Advice to President Biden

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Over the next few days, President Biden will with various Middle East leaders to address the recent events taking place in Israel and Gaza. Today he will meet with Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders. Followed by several meetings with Arab leaders in the near future.

These meetings will be pivotal for several reasons. First, this visit is meant to show the Israeli people that America stands with them and supports their attempt to bring justice to those who murdered over 1,400 civilians. Second, future talks with the Arab leaders will allow the president to determine how exactly the Arab world will react to the war. Particularly, to the growing issue revolving around the growing number of refugees trying to escape Gaza. Finally, if Biden dares to engage in constructive talks, it will allow the United States to make clear and concise demands of the actors who have exacerbated the issues. 

If I was a special advisor to President Biden during these talks, or if I was in his shoes, I would make three clear points. 

1.  The United States unwaveringly supports our Israeli allies. I would continue to support the Israeli government in both rhetoric and through our actions, whether it be providing intel, arms, or aid. The president must also be willing to go before the American people and speak on the importance of Israel not as just an ally of the United States but of democracies around the world. President Biden must make the case that for the Israeli people to be safe, Israel’s allies must allow Israel to root out Hamas from the Gaza Strip. As long as Hamas can fire rockets, behead babies, and murder innocent civilians, Israelis are not safe. 
2. Gaza’s arab neighbors must allow refugees into their countries. As of now, Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia have warned of the humanitarian crisis arising from the growing number of Gazan civilians who are attempting to flee the country. Civilians are unable to leave for two reasons. First is that their government, Hamas, has ordered them to stay put, even after the Israelis have issued notices to evacuate areas of the country before beginning bombardments. The second major issue is the inactiveness of Gaza’s neighbors to allow them in. Egypt has “warned against the danger of the situation deteriorating and sliding into more violence.”  If the Egyptians are concerned for their neighbors and truly worried about the possible increase in violence, then I would strongly urge the president to remind the Egyptians that they are the ones keeping their border to Gaza closed. We must be clear, the Israelis have done the right thing in warning areas before shelling them, but it is not Israel’s responsibility to evacuate the country nor to continue providing aid to those who would seek to kill them. President Biden should put pressure on neighboring countries to take in refugees rather than continually crying crocodile tears for them. It is time to put up or shut up.
3. The sponsors of terror must be punished. Hamas of course is responsible for its actions, no doubt, but what the United States and others need to determine is if any external forces were involved. For years now, the Iranian government has funded terrorist organizations across the Middle East. Whether it be Hamas, Hezbollah, or the Houthis, Iran has backed each of them and serves as their patron. Shortly after the attacks in Israel, the Iranian parliament took to cheering “Death to Israel! Death to the United States!” They do not hide their love for the death of Jews and Gentiles alike. I would inform President Biden that a hardline must be taken to address the growing issues coming from Tehran, those being: funding terrorists, funding our enemies such as Russia, attempts to obtain a nuclear bomb, constantly taking Americans as hostages, their human rights violations, and many more. The administration has quietly sidestepped the current faults in its Iran policy since the attacks carried out by Hamas and has failed to even address whether the Iranians were involved or not and many in the media have not addressed this idea at all. 

What the president must do is support Israel and its war against Hamas, pressure Arab nations to take up their roles in providing humanitarian aid and find out who exactly was involved in these attacks. The coming weeks will show whether or not President Biden has the guts to do what is right. 

 

The views expressed in this article are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Lone Conservative staff.

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