Blinken's chutzpah: Israel should respond to the preaching of a serial bungler
Blinken's record – from Iran to Ukraine – is dismal. But he has managed to drag Biden away from his pro-Israel stance, undermining Israel's achievements in the war.
Ariel Kahana
Israel Hayom
Jan 15, 2024
Blinken has managed to drag Biden away from his pro-Israel stance
"An empty taxi drew up to 10 Downing Street and Attlee got out," Winston Churchill once mocked his rival, Labor leader Clement Attlee. Two years ago, a convoy of limousines stopped near the Council on Foreign Relations building in Manhattan. A man burst out that none of the passersby recognized. It was the current US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. I was there to see.
Despite Churchill's sarcasm, Attlee was one of Britain's great prime ministers. Blinken, on the other hand, will be remembered as one of the secretaries of state under whose watch the US standing in the world suffered a beating. Although his service is ultimately an official at the pleasure of the President, and his policy is not independently formulated, Blinken's first three years are a magnificent chain of failures.
China has increased its level of threat toward America, despite the internal economic crisis it is suffering from. Russia invaded Ukraine, America's ally, and shook the world order to its core. By the way, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his people are still fighting, but these days Putin has the upper hand. And Iran, America's Middle Eastern enemy, is surging forward. Both the policy and the steps Blinken took on Iran turned out to be detached and disastrous. This is his legacy.
At the beginning of his tenure, Blinken wanted to reach a new, "stronger and longer" nuclear agreement, in his words. That effort failed miserably. Despite countless concessions, the Iranians did not play along. It later emerged that the man he appointed to handle the Iran portfolio, Rob Malley – who was known for his sympathy for Tehran – was alleged to have engaged in misconduct. Malley was removed from his post in disgrace. Blinken's State Department lied when it initially claimed that Malley had stopped coming to work "due to personal matters."
That same Iran that Blinken has failed to stop stands of course behind the terrible attack on Israel on Oct. 7. This war was also a product of this weakness.
This disgraceful record did not lead to the dismissal of the American Secretary of State. Biden is old and weak, and currently preoccupied with the 2024 race. Because of his love for Israel and the shock that gripped him on the first day, the president still managed to stand by our side in the first days of the war. He set a directive according to which the US supports Israel's goal of destroying Hamas, which still supposedly binds the administration.
However, since then, Blinken and the State Department have simply undermined the war in every way. Biden is dragged after them. On the one hand, American military aid is indeed impressive in scope. On the other hand, the demands that are made by Blinken and his team have undermined the achievements in the war.
In meetings he held in Israel last week, the secretary of state argued that the administration itself is under pressure from members of Congress and the progressive wing of his party. His message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, State Party leader Benny Gantz, and President Isaac Herzog has been: "Look what's going on on the other side too. There is real hunger there, and babies are dying. Understand the pressures on us, and help us help you."
This was his justification for the moral preaching and chain of dictates to Israel, which he announced into the microphones and cameras on Tuesday night in Tel Aviv. With Israelis too busy with their troubles, and with Blinken being so laconic in his speaking, his chutzpah slipped under the radar. But here are some excerpts of what he said:
"In today's meetings, I was also crystal clear: Palestinian civilians must be able to return home as soon as conditions allow. They must not be pressed to leave Gaza. As I told the prime minister, the United States unequivocally rejects any proposals advocating for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza, and the prime minister reaffirmed to me today that this is not the policy of Israel's government…I spoke last night with the UN's new Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza Sigrid Kaag about all of these efforts that are underway…She has America's full support. She must have Israel's as well…Israel must be – must stop taking steps that undercut Palestinians' ability to govern themselves effectively. Extremist settler violence carried out with impunity, settlement expansion, demolitions, and evictions all make it harder, not easier, for Israel to achieve lasting peace and security…If Israel wants its Arab neighbors to make the tough decisions necessary to help ensure its lasting security, Israeli leaders will have to make hard decisions themselves.
By the way, he also announced that his heart goes out to the Al-Jazeera journalist who was killed by Israeli fire. A few hours later, the IDF spokesman revealed that the "journalist" was directly affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad
Blinken did say a few words about the necessary reforms in the Palestinian Authority, and on Wednesday he even confronted Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas about it in Ramallah, at least according to Palestinian reports. He also noted that he was here to "ensure that October 7th can never happen again" and that the US stands by Israel and thinks that its accusation of genocide is shocking, especially given that those attacking Israel - Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iran that supports them - continue to openly call for the destruction of Israel and the mass murder of Jews.
And yet, the main pressure he exerted, just like in the cheerful days of Obama – in whose administration Blinken held senior positions – was placed on Israel. In the regional tour, he held just before arriving in the country, in countries that, of course, did not go through what we went through on Oct. 7, he did not dare to speak like that. Here – just three months after the biggest pogrom before and after the Holocaust – he shifted the burden of demands and blame onto our shoulders. The truth is that this is beyond the pale.
The silence of the lambs
The Israeli resistance to the pressures was weak. Except for the IDF spokesman, who posted a video with a strong message about Israel's huge humanitarian actions, senior Israelis bowed their heads. They could have said: "We are fighting for our lives here, and if you are allies, you must support us morally and publicly as well." They could have added: "We still have 130 captives people inside Gaza, we will add a truck for everyone that gets released," or "The aid coming in is going to Hamas, prevents the war goals from being achieved and teaches the population that the organization is still the ruler in Gaza.By exerting these pressures you preventing us from winning." They should have responded with, "How come you rely on data from the UN, which is a biased organization and which has been taken over by Hamas?!" They were obliged to ask "What did you bring from the UAE, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia where you visited? Will they demilitarize Gaza? Will they make sure they stop firing missiles at us from there?!"
Instead of standing stall, the Israeli leadership agreed, for some reason, that a team on behalf of the UN, yes the UN, would determine what conditions were necessary to meet before Gaza residents returned to their homes in the northern strip. Willingness was also expressed to increase to 400(!) the number of aid trucks entering daily. Netanyahu also committed on his own that there would be no occupation and no population displacement – two steps we may end up needing. This created a situation where Netanyahu once again lied to the world.
Indeed, there were additional demands that Blinken raised and were rejected outright. Netanyahu, through Herzog and Gantz, made it clear to him that both in Gaza and Lebanon Israel will stand by the decisions it has taken to remove the threats. There were certainly uncomfortable moments for him at the Kiryah. And yet, someone should have set a red line for him – which did not happen.
There were those in Jerusalem last week who recalled Kissinger's shuttle diplomacy, which pushed Israel into a corner after the Yom Kippur War. Also in this regard, the similarities between that difficult war and our times are very similar. Only Kissinger was a great statesman and a smart Jew. He broke the Communist bloc by splitting between Russia and China and brought Egypt over to the Western bloc, and world history is full of his witty sayings.
Jewish history, on the other hand, sees Kissinger as a controversial figure, because in the difficult moments of that war, he seemed to be gambling with our fate. And that, unfortunately, is the only point of resemblance between him and the current Jewish Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.
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