Hamas wants the destruction of Israel! Israel has the right to defend themselves, Period! They need to stay the course.
In a world where Hamas has yet to agree to any ceasefire conditions, for the Biden administration to decide to play hardball with Israel is out of place, to say the least.
But, of course, history often repeats itself.
In June 1982, a few days after the start of the Lebanon War, known as Operation Peace for the Galilee, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin met with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington. Several lawmakers grilled him over Israel’s alleged disproportionate use of force. Then Senator Joe Biden was chastising Begin during a Senate hearing over Israel’s settlement policy in
the West Bank, Judea & Samaria, harshly threatening to cut off economic aid to the Jewish state if it did not immediately cease its settlement activities.Begin forcefully responded,
“Don’t threaten us with cutting off your aid. It will not work. I am not a Jew with trembling knees. I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of civilized history. Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. Nobody came to our aid when we were striving to create our country. We paid for it. We fought for it. We died for it. We will stand by our principles. We will defend them. And, when necessary, we will die for them again, with or without your aid.”
Senator Biden reportedly banged on the table with his fist, and Begin retorted,
“This desk is designed for writing, not for fists. Don’t threaten us with slashing aid. Do you think that because the US lends us money it is entitled to impose on us what we must do? We are grateful for the assistance we have received, but we are not to be threatened. I am a proud Jew. Three thousand years of culture are behind me, and you will not frighten me with threats.
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