America Has the Right Answer

If anything can unite Congress during these chaotic days, it is the need to support Israel after the terrorist attack by Hamas. President Joe Biden has found the right words for the situation, which he has linked to a clear warning for Israel’s enemies.

In his Israel speech Tuesday evening, Joe Biden shared a personal memory. More than a half century ago as a senator barely 30 years old, Biden met with Golda Meir. Israel’s prime minister described the challenges and threats facing her country to her visitor.

Her presentation made such an impression on the young politician that Meir tried to cheer him up. “Don’t worry, Sen. Biden. We have a secret weapon here in Israel. We have no place else to go.”

This simple truth remains the core of the United States’ understanding of foreign policy from which everything else is derived. The U.S. ensures that the nation of Israel can defend itself “today, tomorrow, as we always have,” to quote Biden again.

This is not only the clear position of the president and his cabinet. In an otherwise bitterly divided Washington, the Hamas terrorist attack is the mortal enemy. If anything can unite the U.S. Congress during these chaotic days, it is the need to support Israel with quick, decisive action.

In doing so, the Americans do not need to call upon Israel to keep its retaliation against Hamas proportionate and undertake its actions pursuant to international law. The U.S. simply does not expect anything less from Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

Biden’s advocacy for Israeli security goes beyond the borders of the Jewish state. Without naming Iran or Hezbollah, he issued a clear warning about America’s commitment. To anyone planning to take advantage of the current situation, he said, “Don’t. Don’t.”

There are no words to describe the extent of the horror inflicted by Hamas. Murdered babies and shot-up teenagers, Holocaust survivors taken hostage. Biden has found the right words to describe what the victims are going through now: “It leaves a black hole in your chest.” And America is providing the right response.