Former CIA analyst Fred Fleitz and retired Army Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer told Newsmax Tuesday that it is “horrific” that President Joe Biden is “trying to sandbag” Israel in an effort to help his administration win reelection in November.
The Biden administration has reportedly advised Israel that a ground operation into the southern Gaza city of Rafah would be a mistake and has demanded the Jewish state produce a plan to protect civilians.
“You have to give [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu credit for listening to the United States, taking the phone call from Biden,” Fleitz said during an appearance on Newsmax’s “American Agenda.” “I’m sure Biden chewed him out on the war, demanding a cease-fire immediately. Well, look, Netanyahu is not going to let Joe Biden dictate how he defends his country to help get Biden reelected. But you know, on a related point, we see Hamas not willing to negotiate on a cease-fire. How many times have you heard a Biden official demand that Hamas agree to a cease-fire? I haven’t heard that at all. All the demands are of Israel, and that discourages, it emboldens Hamas from dealing.”
“It’s bizarre,” he continued. “It seems to me that we know who started this war. All of our pressure should be on the aggressor who started this war. Why are we treating Israel as the aggressor? Israel’s defending its security, and I guess we know why the pressure is on Israel. It’s because of the radical left of the Democratic Party, anti-Israel sentiment among this radical left, and the desperation of Joe Biden to win votes in Michigan and Wisconsin and Minnesota.”
Shaffer said that “there is no diplomacy” and “the pressure is completely on the Israeli state to do something to stop responding as it is legitimately able to do to go after Hamas.”
As for why the Biden administration won’t pressure Hamas, Shaffer said that “the answer is what happened in Dearborn over the weekend when you had Hamas sympathizers calling for death to America.”
“So, for better or for worse, Biden is trying to bring those people back into the ranks of the Democrat[ic] Party for purposes of victory in November,” he said. “I think it’s horrific that you see a party, the Democrat[ic] Party, trying to sandbag an ally [Israel] based on what they believe will be productive for them politically in November. It’s horrific.”
Commenting on reports that Netanyahu is facing a mutiny from his top ministers, Fleitz said that he doesn’t think the Biden administration understands that “Netanyahu has solid support in his Knesset alliance to continue the war.”
“I think they think that maybe he might be ousted,” he said. “There could be some kind of a vote, maybe if [Israeli war cabinet member] Benny Gantz left, Netanyahu would have to have new elections. That’s not the political realities in Israel, at least not right now.”
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