It hasn’t been a good week for those who care about freedom and democracy. Some of the blame falls on the Biden Administration, and much of it falls on the regime in Tehran. There’s no introduction that will do justice to this week’s news, so we’re just going to go ahead and begin.
Investigating Israel? Really?
On Monday, press reports began to circulate that the Department of Justice (DOJ) would be investigating the May 2022 death of an Al Jazeera journalist who died during fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian terrorists. The journalist’s death is a tragedy. Israel has investigated the incident and found that its soldiers behaved appropriately. That’s what democracies do, they investigate a matter and come to a conclusion without prejudice.
In the months since the journalist’s death, anti-Israel Members of Congress have been lobbying the DOJ to investigate the matter. No one paid much attention to this effort because the Justice Department is supposed to be independent. But, just days after the mid-term elections concluded, suddenly the DOJ reversed an earlier Administration decision and has now informed the Israelis of their intention to investigate the matter.
This is outrageous. Israel is an ally that upholds democratic norms and does everything it can to avoid civilian casualties in conflict. The Israelis conducted themselves in the exact same manner the U.S. has on numerous occasions when civilians have died in a warzone.
In a statement addressing the matter, CUFI founder and Chairman Pastor John Hagee had this to say, “It is both shocking and appalling that the Department of Justice has allowed anti-Israel Members of Congress to pressure an allegedly independent arm of the executive branch into this investigation. Israel is a democracy and an American ally, and the Israelis have investigated this incident in a manner befitting both of those titles.”
Pastor Hagee is right; the DOJ is wrong, and the Biden Administration’s actions are a transparent attempt to mollify the worst elements of the Democratic party.
Iran At War With Iranians
When it rains it pours, and this week we saw a new abomination emanating from the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to reports, Iran plans to execute many political prisoners currently held in Iranian prisons amidst the protests taking place across the country. And these acts of pure evil apparently do not go far enough for the Iranian leadership. We apologize for how blunt we must be, but, according to reports, Iran’s leaders intend to continue to use sexual violence against women as punishment for their speaking out against the regime.
Though Iran does have a law preventing executions of those under 18, the regime kills children anyway. In Iran, the age of criminal responsibility for boys is 15 and for girls it’s 9. Minors have also been killed in the streets by the regime during protests, and no matter what, unspeakable horrors await those who’ve been arrested by Iran’s brutal security forces.
Iran is waging war against its own people. The regime is committing human rights atrocities and planning even more. It is incumbent upon every free nation on earth to do whatever it takes to aid the Iranian people in overthrowing the Iranian regime.
President Biden must expand US support for the Iranians who continue to protest their government and seek regime change in Iran, and the Western world must follow his lead. The days of diplomatic niceties are over. Anything short of resolutely and unequivocally working to an end Tehran’s tyrants’ reign of terror is aiding and abetting Hitler’s philosophical progeny. Despite all of this, the Biden administration has still yet to rule out future negotiations with the Islamic Republic.
The Mid-Terms and the Fringes
The mid-term election results are not completely tallied, but it’s looking like the Republicans will take the House and the Democrats will retain control of the Senate. Ours is a nonpartisan organization, and as such, our big takeaway is that the U.S. remains an incredibly divided country. We’re seeing numerous elections decided by the slimmest of margins, and however things shakeout on Capitol Hill, no party is going to have overwhelming control of either chamber.
Our job is to ensure this divisive environment does not impact U.S. support for Israel, efforts to combat antisemitism, or laws which counter the BDS movement. The Jewish state enjoys widespread and significant support amongst the American people, and that should be reflected in U.S. policy.
Unfortunately, as the politicized DOJ investigation indicates, many leaders in Washington are kowtowing to fringe members of their own parties. No party should allow the antisemitic cancer of their far left/right members to infect American foreign policy in the Middle East. Sadly, that appears to be exactly what’s happening.
As the most powerful individual on earth, it is incumbent upon President Biden to lead the effort to undermine anti-Israel elected officials, whose positions do not represent the will of the American people. Unfortunately, this week’s news and the administration’s continued weakness on Iran indicate that President Biden is not leading effectively.
In the aforementioned statement, Pastor Hagee noted, “President Biden has left the door open for negotiations with Iran while simultaneously allowing his Justice Department to engage in a politicized investigation into Israel. These are not the actions of the leader of the free world; they are the actions of a man who has completely lost his way.”
That pretty much sums it up.
Sincerely,
