Biden/Blinken’s Travesty of Common Sense and Foreign Policy
[Published on Times Of Israel 6 February '24]
If the Biden administration needs to prove their pro-Palestinian bona fides, I can recommend 100 ways. Decrying a non-existent "increase in settler violence" and sanctioning individuals isn't one of them.
Here's the scoop (wonder how much of this CNN, BBC, BBC World Service, Fox News, The New York Times etc. will cover?):
1. There was a 50% DECREASE in incidents of Jews "attacking" Arabs in Judea & Samaria (the "West Bank" of the Jordan River) in Q4 '23 over Q4 '22. At least get your FACTS right.
2. Many of even those "attacks" were Jews defending themselves or standing their ground, not actual "attacks". (It goes without saying, but I’ll say it here, that I & the vast, VAST MAJORITY of all Israelis condemn and oppose violence against innocent civilians whether Arab or Jewish.)
3. Israel has a police, security forces and justice system (including under the IDF/civil administration in the disputed territories) which is not only robust and thorough and enforces the rule of law, but which explicitly and particularly targets the (very few) "extremist" Jews who break the law, whether with violence or threats of violence, illegal building, or otherwise. So Israel - America's democratic ally supposedly - doesn't really need America's help in law-enforcement (let alone conflict-resolution).
4. There is no WH Executive Order allowing the State Dept. to sanction individuals who carry out violent attacks elsewhere in the world. Not Paris or London, Amsterdam or Berlin (and certainly not in non-democratic societies!) - where many attacks, including many against Americans and Jews of course, are well-documented and the individuals identified. It seems curious the administration seeks to target Jews/Israelis in particular, no? (Not to mention there is no such Exec. Order regarding identifiable Arab/"Palestinian" attackers of Israelis/Jews/others - where real attacks, and real injuries/death, occur frequently. Hmmm.)
5. None of the four individuals now named specifically have been convicted of any wrong-doing by Israel's robust judicial and legal system. True, three have been indicted, and one detained. But... is the State Dept and WH now judging people on the basis of "guilty until proven innocent"? Not very American, methinks.
6. Perhaps most disturbingly, one of the four, Eyal Levi, has NEVER been indicted, detained, or even INVESTIGATED for the 'crimes' and 'attacks' the State Dept. accuses him of. Yet his accounts have been frozen by Bank Leumi as they're afraid of US sanctions if seen to "support" or "provide services" to him. Seriously - they worry their entire access to the international financial system (SWIFT etc.) is in jeapordy. All because some nameless bureaucrat in the State Dept. threw out his name with no basis nor proof.
Not only have they gotten it all wrong, they've proven their incompetence.
What makes them think they even have the resources, forget the question of the mandate, to investigate these matters? They don't of course. They clearly have relied on 'reports' (read: innuendo and unfounded accusations) by tainted and agenda-driven, anti-Israel groups like Betzelem, Breaking the Silence, and Human Rights Watch.
Yes, in foreign policy, sanctioning the leader of a terror regime or tyranny by freezing their accounts in the US or denying them entry is an important tool for the US or any other government. The US should use this power more, not less - starting with the leaders of Iran, and Russia, and a few others we can all think of.
And the US can bar entry to anyone they choose, of course - none of these individuals are US citizens so have no right of entry. But as the above demonstrates, the Biden administration, for political reasons (Dearborn Michigan voters are you paying attention?), is violating the standards of normal governance and demonstrating (again?) it's disregard for individual rights, let alone its lack of common sense and moral clarity.
After the moral clarity reflected in their initial response to the horrific Hamas terror attacks of Oct. 7, there were hopes that the administration had found its way. It lost it pretty quickly. (Hope Biden and Blinken will fire whoever thought up this bogus tactic and also whoever chose these four names, especially Levi.)
Is there no leader in the Democratic Party who will stand up to this nonsense (and to the pro-Hamas (not 'pro-Palestinian') Squad and others who are pushing the party to the extremes?
Tell you one thing: Nikki Haley would never allow such ignorance to guide policy... let alone such anti-Israel sentiment.
Good luck to us all (Americans and Israelis).
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