In “How the US and Israel can get back on the same page” (3/31/24), the Washington Post is a broken record in their editorial about how to end the Israel/Hamas war. The most obvious idea - which the Post refuses to offer -- is to put pressure on other actors in the region who could have influence but have been largely sidelined. Instead, the Post is arm-in-arm with the U.S. administration trying to pressure Israel, which was brutally attacked on Oct. 7 and is fighting to liberate the region from the terrorist threat of Hamas. Hamas remains an existential threat to Israel and promises to repeat Oct 7 again and again until it destroys Israel -- not to have a state alongside Israel, as the Post claims in its own delusional way. Despite internecine political struggles, all Israelis agree that Hamas must be defeated.

The Post refuses to demand that Qatar and other Arab countries put pressure on Hamas to surrender, release the hostages, and spare Gazan civilians from this devastating war that Hamas continues to fight. Qatar, which provides a safe haven for billionaire Hamas leaders, would be the logical source to spearhead the end to this conflict. But there is no mention of that in the Post’s solution.

Further, why is there no American demand to Egypt to temporarily house the Gazan civilians so Israel can more quickly finish the job of defeating Hamas? This would save Gazan lives, taking them out of harm’s way, removing the ability of Hamas to hide behind their civilians so Israel could defeat Hamas once and for all. And yes, the U.S. has influence over Egypt, giving them billions of dollars in exchange for basically nothing.  According to a State Department report, “Since 1978, the United States has contributed more than $50 billion in military assistance.”

The editorial continues to address the relationship between Israel and the U.S.: “President Biden’s open declarations that Israel failed to limit civilian casualties and enable aid to reach Palestinians; a major speech by Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) that blasted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; and U.S. tolerance of an Israeli opposed UN Security Council cease-fire resolution” are evidence the “relationship between the two countries” has “soured.” And soured “as seldom before.”

The editorial whitewashed this review of the relationship. Biden actually said that Israel was using “indiscriminate force” and its response was “over the top.” Schumer acted as if Israel was a colony of America, stating that Israel needed new elections -- exactly the same election interference that Democrats have accused other nations of inflicting on us! Biden’s claim has been refuted analytically numerous times by John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point. Spencer also served for 25 years as an infantry soldier and participated in two tours in Iraq, according to Newsweek. Several recent Newsweek articles show that Israel “has created a new standard for urban warfare,” that their force is unprecedented in how few casualties have occurred per combatant.  

But facts don’t seem to matter to the administration and the Post fails to question their errors.

The Post is not alone in misrepresenting this conflict. It is no wonder Americans are misinformed on this topic. Thanks to the Post and the legacy media, most Americans don’t know what it means when the Palestinians and their supporters shout “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” at their rallies -- it means all of Israel will be destroyed. The river mentioned is the Jordan River, the sea, the Mediterranean Sea.

And most Americans don’t know that one of the borders with Gaza is Egypt. If they knew, they would ask the logical question:  why isn’t Egypt doing anything? Why doesn’t Egypt take in the Gazans temporarily so they can get out of harm’s way? Why is all the onus on Israel that is fighting an existential threat with Hamas?

If the Post wasn’t writing article after article blaming Israel for their method of response to the greatest one-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, a response which top experts say is beyond humane, the newspaper would be severely shorter in pages. And then where would they put the advertisements, in an attempt to save their self-imploding paper?

The editorial concludes that “President Biden is still a close friend of Israel and willing to take political risks to support it.” They say this based on no evidence whatsoever. The evidence provided in the editorial proves the opposite. Biden essentially committed a blood libel against Israel in saying that it uses “indiscriminate” and “over the top” force. “Blood libels” have been used against Jews for centuries by anti-Semites who have murdered Jews for this very reason. It also serves to stoke anti-Semitism in this country -- of which we have seen a huge spike.  Further, Biden has been virtually silent about this exponential increase in anti-Semitism. His press secretary answered a question about anti-Semitism by addressing Islamophobia.

With Jewish college students having to lock themselves in libraries and hide in attics (reminiscent of Anne Frank), where is our president? While Jews across America hide their Jewish necklaces and are warned to hide their religious garments, where is our president? Three elite University presidents cannot affirm that the calling of the genocide of Jews is against school policy, where is our president?

Our administration failed to veto a UN Resolution that did not tie a cease-fire in Gaza to the release of hostages -- some of whom are Americans!

And to the Post’s claim that Biden has been taking “political risks” to support Israel? How can they be serious?  It seems it is quite the opposite -- he is kowtowing to political pressure from anti-Israel voters in crucial election states like the swing state of Michigan.

Perhaps President Biden was a friend to Israel in the past -- calling him that now is a stretch.

The Washington Post toes the administration line in its adversarial reporting of Israel. This is happening as the Jewish nation, home to the people most victimized by discrimination, are improperly lambasted worldwide for their response against a genocidal enemy and while American Jews are suffering the worst discrimination against them perhaps ever. And times don’t change – it’s nothing new for the Jewish people.

Dr. Michael Berenhaus is a freelance activist who works to combat anti-Israel bias in the media.  He has been widely published in news sources such as The Economist, the New York Times, and the Washington Post.

Image: Washington Post