by By Daniel Greenfield
In August, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke to anti-Israel activists including Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s sister and told them she was open to an arms embargo on Israel.
The Kamala campaign denied the allegation. The Times adjusted its claim.
They were lying. Here’s the arms embargo.
The Biden-Harris administration confirmed on Tuesday that it threatened to cut off aid to Israel’s military, including arms shipments, if the Jewish state does not boost the delivery of humanitarian aid into the battle-torn Gaza Strip.
That’s an understatement.
The Biden-Harris admin letter falsely accuses Israel of a cutoff of humanitarian aid to Hamas areas and makes a series of insane and impossible demands including supporting UNRWA, which functions on the ground as Hamas, allowing in items that can be used for terror, maintaining aid supplies in evacuated areas, and allowing enemy forces to enter Gaza.
Among the arms embargo demands are “removing restrictions on the use of container and closed trucks”.
“Waiving customs requirements” from enemy territory… “until such a time as the UN is able to implement its own process.”
“Allowing the JAF (Jordanian Armed Forces) to enter the Gaza strip.”
Seth Mandel at Commentary notes just one of the arms embargo ultimatums which complaints about Israel “instituting new vetting and onerous liability and customs requirements for humanitarian staff and shipments”.
What are those new vetting and liability requirements that the U.S. government, through Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, is objecting to? From the Times of Israel’s description: “Under the rule, individuals from relief organizations sending aid must complete a form providing passport details, and accept liability for any false information on a shipment, sources said. Relief agencies fear signing the form could expose staff to legal problems if aid fell into the hands of Hamas or other enemies of Israel.”
These customs rules are as basic as they get. The UN specifically is holding back sending its trucks under these rules, presumably because it’s violating those rules. Further, the only people who would object to deliverers providing personal identification are those who intend for Hamas thugs to join the convoy along the way.
Imagine complaining about having to show ID at a border crossing into a warzone. Now imagine the U.S. threatening to withhold weapons from an ally because that ally is requiring warzone delivery workers to provide ID. That is currently the reality.
This is a diplomatic gun to Israel’s head: Let in aid trucks without knowing exactly who and what is on them—aid trucks organized by an agency that notoriously employs Hamas terrorists—or fend off Iran’s multi-front attack with one hand tied behind your back.
The goal here I would argue is less about achieving any of the specific demands in the letter than to…
– Spread further FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) within the Israeli government and military who will be encountering still more onerous rules. The ultimate goal is to fracture Israel’s governing coalition between those who want to defeat the terrorists and those who want to make a deal leading to the collapse of the government.
– Reverse Israel’s momentum against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran.
– Appeal to Dearborn, Michigan, and the far left. The 30-day timetable here is aimed at the election. While the Biden-Harris regime denies making the letter public, the fact that Barak Ravid is spreading it on social media means that it comes from the administration.
That last part is significant because these same folks decided to impeach former President Trump over the accusation that he was doing what they’re doing now, which is denying aid to an ally in wartime in the service of their own partisan election agendas.
And it’s undeniable that is part, though not, all what is going on here.
The Biden-Harris administration has made it clear that it wants Israel to end the war. At any cost. The facade of a deal has fallen apart but the pretext of a ceasefire was just that. People tend to overstate the impact of the Dearborn ‘Death to America’ vote. They’re a factor, but the Marxist home crowd is more of one. And even without an election, they would still want to see Israel lose.
This is aimed at the election, but what will come after the election, no matter who wins, will be worse.