To the knowledge of principled, modestly engaged, CNN-watching citizens, President Joe Biden stands strongly with Israel as it faces unprecedented threats to its existence.  So, it appears, cheers are in order for Joe, our strong President.

But not so fast.  Perhaps more than any leader on the planet except Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Biden’s actions were a causative factor in bringing on the recent devastating invasion of American ally Israel.  And more than anyone else, Biden presently is both weakening Israel strategically, and strengthening Hamas militarily, as Israel desperately  seeks to assure its safety. 

This criticism of Biden, at first blush, may seem overstated.  But sustained attention reveals its modesty.  In fact, the history of Biden’s actions show that they are strongly pro-Iran, and therefore pro-Hamas, terrorists sponsored and directed by Iran.

Israel is being bedeviled not only by Hamas in Gaza but also by Hezb’allah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, bombarded daily by each.  It is not controversial that each is financed and directed by Iran.  But these bombardments do not comprise all of Iran’s handiwork.  It also involves sophisticated, effective drones sent to Russia to stymie Ukraine, which certainly ties down America financially and Ukraine militarily.  Iran is as well a military presence in Syria, along with Russia, which itself is a looming threat to Israel, albeit peripheral to the present conflict. 

How can this unprepossessing, commercially backward terrorist regime afford five current military operations, the most prominent three ostentatiously directed at destroying Israel?  Joe Biden has been courting Iran since his accession to office, originally to restart the counterintuitive Iran nuclear deal, which would allow the mullahs a nuclear weapon in just a few years, along with relief from various arms embargos and access to $6 billion in frozen assets. Did this initiative of the Biden Administration have the ultimate effect of releasing Iran from debtor’s prison, while making it wealthy enough to lavishly fund multiple terrorist armies?

Even though the nuclear deal under discussion would be a fool’s errand which only would embolden Iran, Biden’s slavish desire for such a deal says enough about his professed resolve to avoid allowing a malign actor nuclear weapons. With Biden’s restriction of American fuel production causing dramatic price increases, an oil-rich Iran now does not need the modest billions that Biden’s weak team is likely offering to seal any nuclear deal. To be sure, such an agreement may be effectively anodyne, given Biden’s implicit present permission for ongoing Iranian nuclear development.   

Ironically, it is Biden’s absurd climate change policies which have given Iran the financial strength to eschew a deal.  By voluntary handicapping American oil and gas drilling, Biden essentially has doubled the price of oil from $45 to near $90, making Iran wealthy to the tune of about $120 billion extra income annually. 

Moreover, just as Iran’s military advisors were reportedly meeting with Hamas and Hezb’allah in August 2023, to plan the attack of Israel, Biden was quietly lifting oil sanctions on Iran, allowing it to ramp up production from 2.4 million barrels per day to 3.5 million per day, as we speak, a $30 billion windfall just for this portion of the Biden giveaway. 

This was at the same time that Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was assuring the world that (because of Biden’s policies) the Middle East region was “quieter than it has been in two decades” a claim he repeated as late as September 29, 2023, a week before the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre.  This is the same Jake Sullivan who, after months of Putin’s massing on the Ukraine border, expressed surprise that Russia would actually invade.  Who knew?

Now that our naivete and Iran’s perfidy have been exposed, one would reasonably think that the U.S. will “snap back” sanctions on Iran, as both Obama and Biden have so sternly threatened in the past.  But one would likely be wrong. 

The true test of whether America  stands with Israel is whether it reinstitutes effective sanctions, stronger and more debilitating than previously, not only on Iranian oil and gas, but on all commercial trade, while engaging our allies to join the effort. 

Because doing so might otherwise increase pump prices within the near future, the sanctions should be coupled with generous U.S. sales of oil leases, including the grant of offshore drilling permits, which would counteract the loss of Iranian supply, and then some. 

But that won’t happen, since that would upset both Biden’s climate cronies on K Street and his progressive political supporters.

By allowing Iran to increase its production, now widely marketable without sanctions, thereby increasing Iranian wealth, the President of the United States is encouraging the present world of terror. 

But at least Biden stands behind Israel in the conflict, correct?  Well, not exactly, because a solid bloc of Biden’s support comes from the progressive, pro-Palestinian Left.

Accordingly, as we speak, Biden is urging Israel to pause its retaliation, perhaps a cease fire, and otherwise to go easy on the Palestinians. And the smart money says that by granting the “humanitarian aid” Biden has pledged to suffering Palestinians, most will go straight to Hamas, allowing it to continue its terror against Israel.  If the aid were restricted to only those Palestinians flooding into Egypt from Gaza, such policy would nicely afford humanitarian relief, while incentivizing Palestinians to flee the ugly conflict of Gaza.  But don’t bet on that happening.  Instead, by aiding Palestinians staying in Gaza City, Biden is making the war difficult for Israel, not only because Hamas will get most of the aid, but also because human shields will be encouraged to remain.

To summarize, Biden made Iran wealthier with his climate policies, in turn enabling horrifying terrorism.  This history implies that he will not risk upsetting this malign actor, even though it is now imperative that he take action. We know that will not happen, given Biden’s pro-Palestinian supporters, and his administration’s foolish initiatives to strike a nuclear deal with Hamas patron Iran.

Accordingly, it is clear that Biden will mouth support for Israel while providing aid to the country as well.  But it is just as clear that Biden will not really stand with Israel when push comes to shove.

This is Joe Biden’s policy toward what he claims to be our strong ally, Israel. Not only does this policy threaten Israel’s existence, but it also risks entangling America in a larger Middle East war.

When Joe Biden ran against Donald Trump in 2020, he promised the country a steady hand on the tiller of our ship of state. While he boasts by day of his firm guidance, by night he is intentionally driving the ship onto rocky shoals, from which our citizens and those of our ally Israel may never escape.

John D. O’Connor is a former federal prosecutor and the San Francisco attorney who represented W. Mark Felt during his revelation as Deep Throat in 2005. O’Connor is the author of the books, Postgate: How the Washington Post Betrayed Deep Throat, Covered Up Watergate and Began Today’s Partisan Advocacy Journalism and The Mysteries of Watergate: What Really Happened.

Image: White House