President Biden\u2019s push Thursday in a telephone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for an immediate cease-fire in the Jewish state\u2019s six-month war campaign to defeat the terrorist movement Hamas in Gaza unleashed fierce criticism from Israeli experts.<\/p>\n
\u2018A ceasefire now would be a victory to Hamas. It would show the terrorist organization that terrorism pays. The world needs to remain aligned behind Israel in its campaign to further weaken Hamas,\u2019 Yaakov Katz,\u00a0a senior fellow at the Jerusalem based Jewish People Institute told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n
In a\u00a0White House readout of Biden\u2019s call with Netanyahu it was noted that the president \u2018underscored that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians, and he urged the Prime Minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home.\u2019<\/p>\n
The statement also touched on Iran, noting, \u2018The two leaders also discussed public Iranian threats against Israel and the Israeli people.\u00a0President Biden made clear that the United States strongly supports Israel in the face of those threats.\u2019<\/p>\n
A spokeswoman for the Israeli Prime Minister\u2019s Office sent Fox News Digital a statement from Netanyahu\u2019s cabinet meeting on Thursday.\u00a0\u2018The Cabinet authorized the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense, and Minister [Benny] Gantz to take immediate steps to increase humanitarian aid to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.\u2019 The statement added, \u2018This increased aid will prevent a humanitarian crisis\u00a0and is necessary to ensure the continuation of the fighting and to achieve the goals of the war.\u2019<\/p>\n
Hamas\u00a0invaded Israel on October 7 and massacred 1,200 people, including over 30 Americans. The terrorist organization Hamas is currently holding over 100 hostages in the Gaza Strip. Hamas\u2019 remaining battalions are centered in Rafah, the last major holdout for the Sunni terrorist group in Gaza.<\/p>\n
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken\u2019s remark on Thursday sparked outrage among many Israelis. He seemed to compare Israel to the U.S.-sanctioned terrorist entity Hamas in the context of Israel allegedly failing to protect civilians in Gaza.<\/p>\n
Hamas has used civilians in its wars, including the current conflict, as human shields to blur the distinction between terrorists and civilians. Blinken said,\u00a0\u2018It\u2019s what distinguishes us from terrorists like Hamas. If we lose that reverence for human life, we risk becoming indistinguishable from those we confront.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Blinken\u2019s comparison of Israel to Hamas was cruel, abusive and slanderous. It bespeaks a profound hostility to the state of Israel of a kind we\u2019ve never seen from the United States,\u2019 said Caroline Glick, former adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Fox News Digital.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She continued, \u2018The implication is obvious. The Biden administration is siding with Hamas against Israel and projecting Hamas\u2019s crimes against the Jewish state onto Israel.\u2019<\/p>\n
Katz, the former editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, also told Fox News Digital,\u00a0\u2018Israel has been fighting this war in a way that is unprecedented in modern warfare. It has achieved a civilian-combatant ratio that has never been seen before in urban warfare and takes enormous measures to avoid civilian casualties. Unfortunately, mistakes and tragedies in war happen, but Israel is not Hamas. It is the exact opposite. Its military aims not to hit civilians, while Hamas aims to hit civilians.\u2019<\/p>\n
For Israelis who are on the front lines of a new Hamas attack, the safety of Israelis should not be contingent on American elections, and the parallel to Hamas uttered by Blinken is disturbing.\u00a0 Biden has been accused of seeking to\u00a0woo Arab-American voters in Michigan at the expense of securing the release of American hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and the security of Israel.<\/p>\n
Talia Golijov, an American-Israeli resident of a kibbutz on the\u00a0border to Gaza, told Fox News Digital, \u2018From the outset I\u2019ve thought that \u2018total victory\u2019 is a vague and unachievable goal, and that the primary objective should be the return of the hostages, and I would want to see that as soon as possible. Without minimizing the tragedy and scope of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, the pressure and double standards put on Israel for its conduct of the war has become intolerable. It is inconceivable that the IDF would ever behave like, or become indistinguishable from, a terrorist organization.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
She continued, \u2018The change in Biden\u2019s policy comes as much as a result of an immediate high-profile mistake as it does from the impending elections. His polling numbers shouldn\u2019t be a determining factor in how Israel proceeds with the war and secures its future.\u2019<\/p>\n
Golijov\u00a0added, \u2018With all due respect, and thanks to the administration for its support until now, Israel has always maintained a mantra that at the end of the day, it\u2019s up to us to defend ourselves. So, now it\u2019s time for Netanyahu to live up to this.\u2019<\/p>\n
There are dissenting voices who wish to see Israel bring its prosecution of the war to a close. Yossi Melman, a veteran Israeli columnist for the left-leaning Haaretz, told Fox News Digital, \u2018I think the war should be stopped. It is the moral obligation of Israel to get the hostages released.\u2019<\/p>\n
Melman is a leading expert on Israel\u2019s intelligence and defense establishment. He said, \u2018Once there is a ceasefire in Gaza, there will be a ceasefire in Lebanon. I believe the Houthis will stop targeting Israel, and there will be calm in the region.\u2019 He noted that \u2018Israel accelerated humanitarian aid\u2019 in response to Biden\u2019s demands.<\/p>\n
He believes that Netanyahu\u2019s \u2018talk about complete victory is rubbish.\u2019 Melman sees a long-term cease-fire \u2018only when an international military force would move in to stabilize the situation.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
He continued that instead of bringing Hamas to power, what\u2019s needed is \u2018an international force or Arab force led by the Palestinian Authority.\u2019<\/p>\n
Melman said, \u2018It does not matter if there is double standard. That is the reality. Whether we like it or not. I don\u2019t like it. We are inches from a European Union\u00a0arms embargo \u2026 Israel does not have an alternative to the U.S. And there is no alternative to Biden. Trump is worse. Trump said there should be cease-fire. Biden is the last fully pro-Israel president. Israel is losing America.\u2019<\/p>\n
After Biden and Blinken voiced their criticism of Israel, the Jewish state\u2019s Minister for Diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, Amichai Chikli, posted a picture showing former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who infamously appeased and misread Hitler\u2019s plans for European conquest, on X, stating: \u2018Being weak towards your enemies and harsh towards your allies is a strategy that has never proven itself.\u2019<\/p>\n