Biden Enables Israel's 'Reckless Driving'

The president hasn’t just gotten into the car with the proverbial drunk driver, but he is handing the driver shots of liquor as they go careening off the road.

This section from a recent New York Times report on the U.S.-Israel relationship sums up the failure of Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza:

But there is no serious discussion inside the administration of a meaningful change in policy [bold mine-DL], like cutting off the arms supply to Israel. Instead, Mr. Biden remains determined to navigate the crisis within the crisis by using the credibility he earned through steadfast support of Israel to shape its next chapter, although it is unclear how much leverage that gives him.

In other words, Biden refuses to consider using the real leverage that U.S. military assistance gives him, and instead he relies on his own “credibility” with an Israeli government that has repeatedly shown that it doesn’t care what he thinks. Because he keeps signaling that U.S. support won’t end no matter what Netanyahu’s government does, he has given up all leverage in advance. This leaves him and the U.S. in the horrible position of fueling an atrocious war that he can’t even significantly influence.

One of the chief flaws of a close embrace of any partner state is that it encourages what Barry Posen calls “reckless driving.” When another government assumes that the U.S. will keep backing it no matter what, it will act more aggressively and dangerously than it might otherwise because it expects that the U.S. will be there to bail it out if things go badly. As we have seen in just the last three months, the driving can be very reckless and lethal indeed.