This past weekend, Israel marked the grimmest of milestones; the 250^th Israeli soldier was killed in Gaza. The soldier, Staff Sgt. Matan Vinogradov (z’’l), fell during an operation that resulted in scores of terrorists arrested and the head of Hamas’s internal security wing dead. As Israel slogs through the difficult job of vanquishing Hamas, our leaders here at home are not helping the situation.

Biden’s Blunder

On Monday, President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke on the phone. A fair amount of the conversation appears to have been focused on Israel’s plans for a military operation to root out Hamas in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah – the last remaining terrorist stronghold.

According to National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, “The president didn’t make threats. What the president said today was, ‘I want you to understand, Mr. Prime Minister, exactly where I am on this. I am for the defeat of Hamas. I believe that they are an evil terrorist group with not just Israeli but American blood on their hands. At the same time, I believe that to get to that you need a strategy that works, and that strategy should not involve a major military operation.’”

Trouble is, Israel has determined that in order to “defeat” Hamas, “a major military operation” is likely necessary. One cannot allow a vital military campaign to become slave to foreign political winds, yet that is exactly wat it appears the Biden administration is pushing.

Despite having determined that in all likelihood Israel will have to enter Rafah in force, Prime Minister Netanyahu is sending a team to Washington to hear out Biden administration officials on an alternative and present their own case. The crux of the issue remains when and how civilians are moved out of way to allow for said operations.

Here’s the thing, Israel doesn’t want to go into Rafah; Israel doesn’t want any of this, but if the Jewish state is to survive, Hamas cannot. It is that simple. So, if team Biden has an alternative, the Israelis are clearly willing to hear it and engage in creative solutions as we’ve seen with the plan to deliver humanitarian assistance via the sea. But we should all recall that it’s the battle-hardened military officers and the troops they lead in Gaza, not the academics in Washington, who know best how to defeat Hamas.

Schumer’s Fumble 

Shameful, there is no other way to describe Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s remarks last week on the Senate floor, during which he called for elections in Israel while attacking the current Prime Minister. Never mind that there were four elections in two years most recently.

And mind you, this is at a time when Prime Minister Netanyahu is leading a war time cabinet to defeat Hamas in Gaza and push back Hezbollah in the north where over 100,000 Israelis are still displaced from their homes. The line that Schumer’s call crossed was not lost on the greater Pro-Israel community and as such, his remarks were roundly condemned across the political spectrum.

But you don’t have to take our word for just how misguided Majority Leader Schumer’s comments were, just ask Chuck Schumer. But not this one; not the one trying to make political gains by making this war about Netanyahu rather than Hamas’s rape and murder across southern Israel. No, ask the Chuck Schumer of 2010, because this is what he had to say:

You have to show Israel that it’s not going to be forced to do things it doesn’t want to do and can’t do. At the same time you have to show the Palestinians that they are not going to get their way by just sitting back and not giving in, and not recognizing that there is a state of Israel.

Where’s that guy? Where is the man who so often has reminded us that his last name means guardian in Hebrew, and that he is a guardian of Israel? He’s not leading the Senate, that much we know. We hope Senator Schumer can find his principles again, in the interim, we respectfully request that Majority Leader consider showing Israel – a sovereign flourishing democracy – that it’s not going to be forced to do things it doesn’t want to do – to borrow a phrase.

Johnson’s Jumble

While Biden and Schumer sell out Israel for fringe leftwing voters, Speaker Mike Johnson has allowed the House of Representatives to be held hostage by fringe isolationist members of his own caucus. We believe that Speaker Johnson is a good and decent man. In fact, we feel that way about most of Congress. So, why are these good and decent people allowing themselves to be led astray by the chaos caucus?

The late Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks (z’’l) once said, “To say yes to who we are, we have to have the courage to say no to who we are not.”

Speaker Johnson is not a firebrand or an ideological purist. Bipartisanship and compromise are not offensive to him. Yet, he is acting as if political points in American primaries trump military gains against one of Iran’s primary international terrorist proxies. We hope the Speaker soon says “yes” to who he really is and finds a path forward to advance the emergency aid to Israel which enjoys such overwhelming, bipartisan support. Until then, it won’t be President Biden’s or Senator Schumer’s words that harm Israel the most, it’ll be Speaker Johnson’s actions, which have been so doomed to failure, they are tantamount to inaction at best, and harm at worst.

Sincerely,

The CUFI Action Fund Team