Josef Joffe
When mayhem erupts in the Middle East, the Biden Administration reflexively reaches for the band-aid of a ceasefire as if a small strip could staunch a hemorrhage. For months, the U.S. has invested in a hapless Hamas deal. Yet Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State, resembles the horse in Animal Farm, who pledges after each setback: “I shall work harder.” A U.S. official just confided to the Wall Street Journal: “No deal is imminent. I’m not sure it ever gets done.”
Surely not in the weeks to come, as Israel has turned against Hezbollah, which began to rain missiles on the country’s North right after the Hamas massacre of 1,200 on October 7. Yet old reflexes don’t die. “We don’t believe,” NSC spokesman John Kirby told Israelis, that “escalating is in their best interest.”
The handwringing stretches from Washington to the UN General Assembly. Yet neither Hamas nor Hezbollah is the real problem. Nor are the Houthis far South, who want to close down the Red Sea, a premier global shipping lane.
The real problem is Tehran. "The Three H" are not autonomous actors, but stand-ins for Iran, America’s mightiest enemy in the Greater Middle East. Iran has paid, trained, and armed them all. Let them fight and die for the greater glory of the Islamic Republic. The playbook is an easy read. Hit Israel, Washington’s only reliable ally, and wound the American giant it dares not take on directly. So, demoralize him to kick him off the Mideast chessboard.
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