President Biden made a characteristic gaffe this week while speaking at Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust Museum, when he mistakenly said that we must strive to keep alive the “honor” of the Holocaust. The President quickly corrected himself, clarifying he meant “horror.” This gaffe has been much covered by the press, but in reality, we should all be much more concerned by the damaging policies the President is pursuing in the Middle East. The Biden Administration is undermining America’s relationship with trusted allies and is instead empowering the Iranian regime.
President Biden kicked off his important diplomatic trip to the Middle East region by informing the Israeli government that he would not be bringing any Israeli officials with him when he visited Palestinian officials in East Jerusalem. This flatly contradicts the Trump Administration’s policy that Jerusalem is Israel’s indivisible capital, and instead gives validity to the Palestinian Authority even as it continues to fund terror. It is also worth noting that the Palestinian Authority is far from being in control of the West Bank or being the true representatives of the Palestinian people. Hamas, the terrorist organization that controls the Gaza Strip, has seriously weakened the PA’s hold on power even in the West Bank. Funding to the PA will not only likely be directed toward acts of terror; it may also one day go to Hamas to fuel its destruction of Israel. The Biden Administration chooses to ignore these things and listen to disconnected, radical activists in America.
This is what we’ve come to expect from the Biden Administration. In response to Hamas launching rockets at Israeli civilians back in 2021, Biden called on both sides to “de-escalate.” The Biden Administration restored aid to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, which is, historically, blatantly antisemitic and overtly anti-Israel. It restored hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority in violation of the Taylor Force Act. Recently, the Biden Administration announced that it would open a new Office of Palestinian Affairs in Jerusalem – signaling that the United States does not consider Jerusalem the undivided capital of Israel. And of course, by negotiating with the Iranian regime, the Biden Administration was making deals with the nation that most wishes to carry out Israel’s complete and utter destruction.
The Trump Administration’s focus on Israel was intentional, for by empowering the Jewish nation-state we also strengthened the pillars of stability and security the region needs. American recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights — key strategic terrain on Israel’s border with enemy Syria — remains in place to this day. We affirmed Israel’s right to exist by proclaiming that “anti-Zionism is antisemitism.” And the coordination between our security agencies reached an all-time high. Israel was a key ally in our strategic engagement with the Middle East – we encouraged the formation of a group of countries who, together, could deter Iran and keep its ambitions in check.
In stark contrast, the Biden Administration has chosen to empower and legitimize the rogue regime in Tehran. Iran is closer than ever to being able to obtain a nuclear weapon. We imposed the harshest sanctions regime ever in history on the Iranian regime; and as a result, the country never crossed the key threshold of enriching uranium to 60%. But under the Biden Administration, Iran has crossed this mark and achieved its highest levels of enriched uranium ever. Far from being crippled by sanctions, the regime openly boasts about its ability to enrich to 90%, the level required to obtain a nuclear weapon.
At the same time, Iran is becoming more intertwined with Russia and China. In March 2021, China and Iran signed a 25-year cooperation agreement worth $400 billion. China will import Iranian oil, and the regime in Tehran will receive Chinese infrastructure and technology, including the Orwellian surveillance technologies being used in the Xinjiang concentration camps. Russia, meanwhile, is creating a sanctions-proof trading relationship with the Islamic Republic, thereby increasing its foothold in the region. And all three countries will send their militaries to Venezuela this fall to drill together in a show of force threatening the United States in our own hemisphere. President Biden should be doing all he can to cripple Iran and strengthen the partnerships we built out to deter the regime, but instead he is weakening those partnerships and empowering Tehran.
President Biden’s gaffes are noteworthy and embarrassing for America, but the truly debilitating damage is being done by his policies toward longstanding American allies and partners.
If this Administration continues to empower and embolden Iran, the consequences will be deadly. If we continue to alienate our friends, we will not be prepared to meet this threat together.
