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Biden and Harris diminish Israel, and elevate Iran

“Think Twice” With Jonathan Tobin and guest Michael Doran, Ep. 149

What exactly is the point of the Biden-Harris administration’s Middle East policy? According to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, the answer is that appeasing Iran and its terrorist proxies—Hamas and Hezbollah—is Washington’s priority.

In this episode of “Think Twice,” Tobin is joined by Middle East analyst Michael Doran, who says that Washington’s focus since the terrorist attacks on Oct. 7 has been on “containing” the ensuing war between Israel and Hamas while denying that what is really a war being waged by Iran against the Jewish state.

The key to Israel’s problems with Iran and its proxies is the lack of U.S. support, he argues.

With strong American backing, Jerusalem does have a powerful military option to stop Hezbollah from firing at northern Israel and essentially depopulating it. Without Washington’s support, Israel’s options are limited, and that is, Doran notes, the way things are now under Biden and Harris, even if they are not being honest about their objectives.

The same applies to their slow-walking of arms supplies to Israel for the war against Hamas, which they continue to deny but which everyone knows is happening and was even admitted by Biden in an unguarded moment, Dorgan argues.

As for a future Kamala Harris administration, should the vice president be elected in November, Doran cautions that while she is flexible in her positions because of her political instincts, she is still a “San Francisco progressive” whose instincts are no different from that of far-left groups like Code Pink, which is openly anti-Israel.

At best, there will be “more magical” thinking, which will lead to irrational policies like pursuing the two-state solution that the Palestinians clearly don’t want.

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Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS, a columnist for Newsweek and a contributor to other publications. He covers the American political scene, foreign policy, the U.S.-Israel relationship, Middle East diplomacy, the Jewish world and the arts. He hosts the JNS “Think Twice” podcast, both the weekly video program and the “Jonathan Tobin Daily” program, available on major audio platforms and YouTube. Previously, he was executive editor, then senior online editor and chief political blogger, for Commentary magazine. Before that, he was editor-in-chief of The Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia and editor of the Connecticut Jewish Ledger. He has won 60-plus awards for his columns, commentary, art criticism and other writing. He appears regularly on television, commenting on politics and foreign policy. Born in New York City, he studied history at Columbia University.
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