President Joe Biden’s “weakness” caused the escalation in violence between Israel and Hamas, former Vice President Mike Pence argued in a Monday op-ed.
Pence’s opinion piece in National Review is his most aggressive push back into politics since leaving the White House in January. Pence attacks Biden for giving in to anti-Israel factions within the Democratic Party, factions which have been particularly vocal since violence first began to escalate at the beginning of May.
“President Biden and congressional Democrats have abandoned unambiguous support for our ally Israel, emboldened our enemies, and turned their back on the policy that yielded historic peace deals in the Middle East,” Pence wrote, going on to tout his and former President Donald Trump’s defense of Israel and successes in the Middle East, particularly the Abraham Accords.
“President Biden has sent the world a profoundly different message,” he added. “Instead of seeking peace through strength, he has invited violence through weakness.”
Pence’s op-ed published hours after Biden held a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during which he called for a ceasefire. Netanyahu has rejected a ceasefire so far, arguing that Hamas and other terrorist groups are still operating. White House says Biden assured Netanyahu that the U.S. stands with Israel in the conflict, however.
“The President reiterated his firm support for Israel’s right to defend itself against indiscriminate rocket attacks,” the White House said in a summary of the call. “The President welcomed efforts to address intercommunal violence and to bring calm to Jerusalem. He encouraged Israel to make every effort to ensure the protection of innocent civilians.”
“The two leaders discussed progress in Israel’s military operations against Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza. The President expressed his support for a ceasefire and discussed U.S. engagement with Egypt and other partners towards that end. The two leaders agreed that they and their teams would remain in close touch,” the White House added.
Former Vice President Mike Pence sharply criticized President Joe Biden in an op-ed Monday, calling the administration weak for its stance on the recent violent clashes between Israel and Palestinians.
“The Trump-Pence administration opened the door to a future of peace in the Middle East founded on our strong and unwavering commitment to the state of Israel,” Pence wrote in National Review. “But now Israel is enduring the worst outbreak of violence in at least seven years — a direct result of the weakness shown by the Biden administration from its first day in office.”
It is Pence’s sharpest criticism of the administration, particularly in the foreign policy arena, as former President Donald Trump continues to spread falsehoods about his 2020 election loss.
Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday but did not make a direct call for an immediate end to violence as the deadly conflict entered a second week. The White House said Biden “expressed his support for a cease-fire and discussed U.S. engagement with Egypt and other partners towards that end.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that Israel has “a special responsibility to protect civilians in the course of its self-defense.” However, U.S. officials have not called on their Israeli counterparts to alter or halt their response to Palestinian rocket fire. Israel has been America’s closest Middle East ally and the largest single recipient of U.S. military aid.
Pence several times touted the foreign policy achievements of the “Trump-Pence administration,” a phrase not often used while he was in office.
“Under the Trump-Pence administration, we made it crystal clear to the world that America stands with Israel,” Pence wrote. “But now, President Biden has sent the world a profoundly different message. Instead of seeking peace through strength, he has invited violence through weakness.”
In September, Israel signed deals to normalize ties with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which were brokered by the Trump administration.
The agreements — called the Abraham Accords — were signed by Netanyahu; the UAE’s foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan; and Bahrain Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani. The bilateral agreements are full of pledges to advance diplomacy, mutual cooperation and work toward regional peace. Israel’s deal with the UAE is more comprehensive, outlining 15 areas of mutual interest, including finance, trade, aviation, energy, health, agriculture and water.
But critics have argued that they do not fully address the decades of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Pence called on Biden to support Israel, but there is growing pressure from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party for an approach that recognizes Palestinian rights.
“There is no moral equivalency between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas,” Pence wrote. “President Biden and every American leader should uphold Israel’s right to self-defense and condemn the terrorists of Hamas — as well as their supporters and apologists — in the strongest possible terms.”
The Trump-Pence administration opened the door to a future of peace in the Middle East founded on our strong and unwavering commitment to the state of Israel. But now Israel is enduring the worst outbreak of violence in at least seven years — a direct result of the weakness shown by the Biden administration from its first day in office.
Many Americans witnessing the recent bloodshed in Israel are perplexed by how quickly violence erupted after years of calm. The answer is that President Biden and congressional Democrats have abandoned unambiguous support for our ally Israel, emboldened our enemies, and turned their back on the policy that yielded historic peace deals in the Middle East.
Under the Trump-Pence administration, we made it crystal clear to the world that America stands with Israel. We withdrew from the dangerous Iran nuclear deal brokered by the Obama-Biden administration, which put the world’s leading state sponsor of terror on the path to nuclear weapons while sending pallets of cash to the mullahs in Iran. We acknowledged Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights and the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. And President Trump kept the promise made by countless Republican and Democrat politicians by actually following through in moving the American embassy to Jerusalem, the capital of the state of Israel.
Every step of the way, Democrats and self-proclaimed foreign-policy “experts” derided our administration’s approach and issued dire warnings that blood would soon flow in the streets of Israeli cities. As usual, they were wrong.
In fact, last year, our administration brokered the Abraham Accords, a series of historic peace agreements between Israel and Arab-Muslim countries — the most significant breakthrough for peace in decades.
These groundbreaking peace accords happened not in spite of America’s support for Israel, but because of it. Other nations knew where America stood with absolute certainty. They knew America would respond forcefully if our citizens or allies were threatened. As a result, they responded rationally by pursuing peace and harmony.
But now, President Biden has sent the world a profoundly different message. Instead of seeking peace through strength, he has invited violence through weakness.
President Biden has emboldened anti-Semitic terrorist groups such as Hamas by shunning Israeli leaders and restoring more than $200 million in aid to the Palestinians that had been canceled by the Trump-Pence administration. He unilaterally took the Iranian-backed Houthis off the list of designated terrorist organizations. And worst of all, he has announced his intention to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal, destabilizing the entire region.
When asked, Biden’s press secretary couldn’t even say whether Israel remains an “important ally” of the United States.
Every tepid statement uttered by the Biden-Harris administration is built on a false equivalency between Israel and Hamas. One is a sovereign nation with a legitimate government, and a trusted ally. The other is an internationally recognized terrorist organization that has fired more than 3,000 rockets at Jewish families and businesses in the past week. There is no moral equivalency between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas. President Biden and every American leader should uphold Israel’s right to self-defense and condemn the terrorists of Hamas — as well as their supporters and apologists — in the strongest possible terms.
Apparently, Biden learned nothing from the tragic foreign-policy blunders made during his time as vice president. President Obama’s thin “red line” in Syria, his decision to “lead from behind” in Libya, and his slipshod withdrawal from Iraq each created power vacuums that were quickly filled by America’s enemies.
Now Biden is repeating those grave errors by creating a power vacuum of his own. He has replaced strength with weakness, moral clarity with confusion, and loyalty with betrayal. Biden’s void, too, is being filled by America’s enemies — and Israelis are paying the price in blood.
Americans should pray for the peace of Jerusalem and stand without apology for our most cherished ally, Israel, until the violence is quelled and Israel’s security is restored.
