Biden’s ‘Bear Hug’ of Israel Is a Failure

A year ago , in the wake of Hamas ’s Oct. 7 attack, U.S. President Joe Biden met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu .

Biden 's embrace of Netanyahu was rooted in the belief that only positive inducements and constant reassurances could restrain Israel 's actions in Gaza .

A year later , more than 42,000 Palestinians are dead, and most of Gaza is in ruins.

David Rothkopf : U.S. had shifted from overt opposition to any cease-fire to embracing limited deal.

He says Biden warned Israel 's bombing campaign was “over the top” and “indiscriminate” But administration continued to fast-track weapons to Israel , he says.

He cites Israel ’s offensive campaign in Rafah , the border town in southern Gaza where most of the strip ’s population had been ordered to relocate, following destruction of Gaza City and Khan Younis .

Khaled Elgindy : The Biden administration has embraced an Israeli bombing campaign and invasion that it once cautioned against.

He says the administration's single-minded focus on Israeli demands, needs, and pain blinded it to the humanity of Palestinians and Lebanese but to the long-term damage done to the region, U.S. interests, and even Israeli security, he says.

The idea that Israelis could bomb their way into security has never panned out, as history has shown, he writes.