The Biden administration is negotiating directly with Hamas for the release of the five American/Israeli citizens kidnapped and held hostage by the terror group since Oct. 7.
The talks with Hamas, an American-designated international terrorist organization, are being brokered by Qatar. Qatar is an ally of both Hamas and Iran.
Shockingly, those talks are happening with no input or involvement from Israel—America’s closest and most reliable ally in the world. This is like America negotiating with Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden after 9/11.
In other words, President Joe Biden has realized that his current strategy of putting pressure on Israel to surrender to Hamas by agreeing to a ceasefire and leaving the terrorist organization in place to rebuild and attack another day is doomed to failure. Israel has no intention of doing so. Nor should it.
Rather than changing course and demanding that Hamas surrender and release the hostages immediately, Biden is now doubling down on his efforts to marginalize Israel and put more space between the Jewish state and America.
The White House has nothing to offer Hamas in exchange for the hostages except a promise to apply more pressure on Israel to enter a permanent ceasefire, to attempt to derail Israel’s war effort and to make Israel an international pariah.
If the American hostages are released, watch for additional weapons embargoes against Israel, harsher criticisms of the Jewish state under the false pretext of “blame it on Netanyahu,” additional sellouts of Jerusalem at the U.N. and more concessions by the United States to Iran.
In short, Biden will offer Hamas a complete betrayal of Israel and an American surrender in the Middle East.
Of course, the better approach is to close ranks with Israel.
The United States should demand that Qatar stop harboring Hamas leaders in five-star hotels in Doha, as Qatar has done for decades. Instead, our “friends” in Qatar should extradite Ismail Haniyeh, Khaled Mashaal and other high-ranking members of Hamas to the United States to be tried for war crimes and acts of terrorism against American nationals.
If Qatar will not extradite the Hamas leaders, the American military should be deployed to extract them forcibly from their jacuzzies. These high-value targets can then be used to create leverage to gain the freedom of the American hostages.
If that fails, these terrorists can spend the rest of their lives in an American maximum-security prison rather than in Michelin-rated restaurants.
In addition to taking these terrorists into custody, the United States should move its airbase in Qatar to either Bahrain or Saudi Arabia. Qatar needs to be seen for the enemy it is.
Finally, the Biden White House must stop putting pressure on Israel. Instead, America must do everything in its power to aid and support Israel’s war effort rhetorically, geopolitically and militarily. That is the best way to ensure the release of the hostages and that Hamas can never again launch an Oct. 7-style attack.
Most importantly, it is the best way to advance America’s national security interests around the world. Friends and foes alike must be convinced that being America’s ally has its rewards and that being its enemy has a price.
Biden’s sellout of Israel’s and America’s national security is not merely theoretical. It is a perfectly natural course of events. It is consistent with the Biden reelection strategy of appealing to the antisemites in Dearborn, Michigan; on our nation’s college campuses; and running wild with pro-Hamas protests in cities across the country.
Biden has concluded he cannot win reelection without the votes of these useful idiots. Therefore, he is prepared to demonstrate that no one is a bigger idiot than he is just to win them over.