Visiting Israel is good, punishing Iran would be better
Washington Examiner
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President Joe Biden made the right choice visiting Israel in person today. It is a strong showing of solidarity to everyone in the region that the United States supports Israel’s stated goal of ridding the Earth of Hamas. Along with two U.S. carrier battle groups in the Eastern Mediterranean, it is also a clear warning to malevolent powers, especially Iran, to back off and not get involved in the war.
Biden could do a lot more to help advance American and Israeli interests by not just warning Iran but by punishing it, too.
ACADEMIA’S SELECTIVE DEFENSE OF FREE SPEECH
Biden has been naively soft on the world’s worst state terrorists since his first day in office. He immediately relaxed sanctions on Iranian oil sales, mostly to China, allowing Tehran to increase production by 50%.
He should have reversed course and blocked these oil sales to China once it became clear that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had authorized the assassinations of former national security adviser John Bolton, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and diplomat Brian Hook in revenge for the January 2020 killing of Iran Revolutionary Guard commander Gen. Qasem Soleimani. These assassinations were authorized to take place on U.S. soil, an unforgivable breach of American sovereignty.
But Biden ignored this terrorist plot in Tehran, and the Democratic Party did as well.
Now that more than 1,400 civilians have been killed by Hamas terrorists in Israel, Democrats are at last asking Biden to get tough on Iranian terror. This is a belated but welcome development.
More than 60 House Democrats signed a bipartisan letter with dozens of Republican lawmakers calling not only for an end to Iranian oil sales to China, but also the reimposition of ballistic missile sanctions. The current ones expire today.
The Biden administration should do both forthwith.
The administration knows and has repeatedly acknowledged that Iran regularly provides money, weapons, and training to Hamas. This is sufficient cause of action.
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Everyone in the world knows that the primary goal of Hamas is the extinction of the state of Israel and the death of every Jew who lives there. Anyone who provides a cent to such an organization is responsible when the organization turns its stated goals into murderous action.
Before Biden agreed to visit Israel, Secretary of State Antony Blinken secured a promise from Israel that humanitarian aid would be allowed into Gaza to help minimize civilian suffering. Much if not all of that aid will be stolen by Hamas to perpetuate its terror campaign against Israeli civilians. The least the administration can do is make sure no more aid gets to Hamas from Iran.