Jason Shvili
When Iran attacked Israel on the night of April 13, the United States and other allies stepped in to help it shoot down nearly all 300-plus incoming ballistic missiles and armed drones. This assistance makes eminent sense since Iran is a primary enemy not only of Israel but also of the United States and all Western nations, as well as of many Arab states.
Tellingly, a bold, unsettling spearhead of Iran’s jihadi ambitions has recently breached the American heartland. Hundreds of pro-Iran and pro-Hamas demonstrators gathered in Dearborn, Michigan, two weeks ago to scream Iran’s notorious battle cry: “Death to America! Death to Israel!”
Despite the clarity of Iran’s global jihadi mission to destroy first the “Little Satan” (Israel) and then the “Great Satan” (America) and despite its insidious infiltration into Main Street America, Biden insists on appeasing the Islamic Republic with soft diplomacy.
While Israel understands that the fight against Iran and its proxies Hamas and Hezbollah is life and death, Biden and other Western leaders apparently believe they are immune from the Iranian threat. Yet even today, many of Iran’s missiles can easily strike NATO nations, most of which do not possess Israel’s air defense systems.
Unfortunately, Iran’s recent launch from its own soil of more than 300 ballistic missiles and armed drones makes the jihadi state seem more emboldened than ever. Yet, with painful irony, Biden and other Western leaders still counsel restraint, forcefully ordering Israel not to retaliate.
Iran has declared war not just on Israel, but also on the United States, many times. In short, Israel’s war against Hamas and Iran is also America’s war. A winning strategy for the Biden administration — to win his next election and to win an honored place in history — would be first to support Israel fully in its response to Iran’s attack and in its war against Hamas.
Second, it behooves the White House to show Iran with clear, painful military action that the games are over. That Iran’s recent aggression will not be tolerated and future attacks will be met with harsher, even more devastating responses.
Iran has been building steadily to a war with the United States, as well as Israel — threatening also Arab states and Western Europe. On Oct. 26, the Iranian foreign minister warned that if Israel did not stop its attack on Hamas in response to the Oct. 7 massacre, the United States would “not be spared from this fire.” Indeed, Iranian proxies have substantially increased their attacks on U.S. forces in the Middle East.
Between Oct. 17 and Jan. 29 alone, Iranian proxies attacked U.S. forces in the region 165 times. In January, three U.S. soldiers were killed in Jordan by missiles fired by an Iran proxy. Moreover, the chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, threatened that any support by Washington for an Israeli counterattack would result in U.S. bases being targeted. Iran-sponsored Houthi militants are wreaking global economic havoc by attacking shipping in the Red Sea.
The Biden administration’s policies have only served to aid Iran’s war efforts against Israel and the West. First, Biden tried to renegotiate the nuclear deal that the Obama administration reached with the Islamic Republic. This agreement could have given Iran an estimated $50 billion in sanctions relief that would no doubt be used to finance terrorism. And crucially, the deal would not have prevented Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. In fact, the terms of the accord would have permitted Iran almost fully to return to nuclear weapons development by 2026.
Fortunately, Biden was unsuccessful in his attempts to resurrect the disastrous Iran deal. Nonetheless, he has still released billions of dollars in sanctions relief to Iran. Late last year, he gave the Islamist dictatorship $6 billion in frozen funds in exchange for five American hostages, without any mechanism to prevent these funds from being used to fund terrorism. This sends a message to the mullahs that taking hostages pays. Unsurprisingly, Iran’s proxy Hamas took this message to heart when it kidnapped more than 250 men, women and children during its murderous rampage on Oct. 7, some eight of whom were American citizens.
Even after the unprecedented attack by Iran on U.S. ally Israel, Biden and other Western leaders still want to prevent Israel from defending itself. Israel is America’s strongest, most committed, most consistently loyal U.S. ally. Yet a report in Politico reveals that following the belligerent attack on Israel from Iranian soil, “Biden essentially told Netanyahu to ‘take the win,’ given that Israel escaped the attack largely unscathed.” Yet no other country, including the United States, would tolerate such an attack without a vigorous response.
What is Biden’s strategy, except to avoid angering Iran? What “win” is there if Iran is emboldened rather than deterred? By counseling Israel not to retaliate for Iran’s recent assault, the president was sending a message that the mullahs can freely attack America’s allies without so much as a whimper from America itself.
Now the war Israel is fighting on behalf of the West has reached America’s shores. Last week, thousands of pro-Hamas, pro-Iran demonstrators took to the streets across the United States, blocking roads, causing chaos and disrupting the lives of hard-working Americans. In New York City, protesters waved the banner of Hezbollah high, even as they burned American flags and chanted “Death to America!”
But rather than fiercely denounce these threats, as Americans would expect, President Biden was silent, seemingly at pains not to offend the sensibilities (and votes) of pro-jihadi Americans. Yet he risks more by condemning Israel’s efforts to stop Iran and defeat Hamas, as well as snubbing the huge majority of Americans, who support the Jewish state.
This is a losing strategy, for both upcoming elections and the fight against Iran.
Appeasement did not stop Hitler from waging his campaign of genocide and conquest, nor will it prevent Iran’s mullahs from doing the same.
It is in America’s best interest to encourage and aid Israel in defeating Hamas and responding to Iran — unrestrained. Likewise, it serves U.S. global interests to join the fight: Iran has made this war our war, like it or not.
Jason Shvili is a contributing editor at Facts and Logic About the Middle East.
