The IDF Is Suffering the Consequences of American Restraint

Since the IDF began its operations in and around the Gazan city of Rafah, at least five soldiers have been killed by explosive booby traps. Jonathan Schanzer examines the evidence that these deaths are the result of U.S. efforts to restrain Israel:

On the eve of the month-long Muslim holiday of Ramadan, in March, the White House warned Israel to halt its military advance on Rafah. The Israelis had removed Hamas from the vast majority of the Gaza Strip. The IDF was on the cusp of destroying the terrorist group, defying the predictions of most Middle East experts. The U.S. warned that war during Ramadan could lead to a multi-front conflict the Israelis wanted to avoid.

But when that month was over, and the Israelis readied for a renewal of the war, the White House moved the goal posts. The U.S. immediately began to warn of a potential humanitarian disaster in Gaza. The State Department went so far as to suggest that Israel could be guilty of war crimes in Rafah. The White House even threatened to halt the provision of ammunition to Israel, as a result of these purported fears. . . . Then, in mid-May, a major lawfare campaign against Israel kicked into high gear. . . .

The cumulative effect of all of this over the last three months has prompted the IDF to halt its advance in Rafah, and to move much more slowly than it originally anticipated. These three months of relative quiet afforded Hamas, and its terror masters in Tehran, the time and space to prepare the lethal booby traps and IEDs that are now killing the Israeli soldiers.

Read more at Commentary

More about: Gaza War 2023, IDF, Joseph Biden, U.S.-Israel relationship

The Democratic Party Is Losing Its Grip on Jews

Since the 1930s, Jews have been one of America’s most solidly Democratic ethnic groups. Although, true to form, a majority again voted for Kamala Harris, something clearly has shifted. John Podhoretz writes:

Over the course of the past thirteen months, Jews in America have been harassed, threatened, seen their ancestral homeland derided as a settler-colonial genocidal state. They have seen Jewish kids mistreated on college campuses. And they have seen the Biden administration kowtow to Muslim populations hostile to Jews and the Jewish state in Michigan. They have heard the criticisms of Israel’s efforts to defend itself, and have noted the silence from the administration when it came to anti-Semitic assaults and the refusal of college presidents to condemn the treatment of Jews and Jewish topics under their ambit.

And Jews have acted.

The initial evidence from last night’s election is that there has been a significant shift in the Jewish vote from previous elections, a delta of anywhere from 10 to 40 percent overall.

Read more at Commentary

More about: 2024 Election, American Jewry, Anti-Semitism, Democrats, U.S. Politics