Debra Saunders: RealClearPolitics
At Tuesday's White House press briefing, Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre why Biden is "harder on Benjamin Netanyahu than he is on the terrorist leader of Hamas.""WASHINGTON -- A reporter asked President Joe Biden if he thought Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was "doing enough" as the president returned to the White House on Monday. Biden answered, "No."
"Biden added that he was pushing as "hard as we can for a deal" for a ceasefire in Gaza that would bring home hostages.
"The bodies of six of those hostages were found murdered in a tunnel in Gaza over the weekend, including Israeli-American citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23.
"Once again, the pressure is on Bibi, and hence on Biden to lean on Bibi -- and not Hamas, the terrorist group that killed 1,200 on Oct. 7 and abducted some 251 hostages
"Methinks the very focus of the White House press corps about what Biden will do to force a ceasefire deal lets Hamas off the hook.
"Ditto the massive protests in Tel Aviv against Netanyahu.
"American billionaire Bill Ackman, whose criticism of university diversity, equity and inclusion policies helped spur the resignation of academic biggies, including Harvard President Claudine Gay, had strong words of advice for activists who took to Israeli streets to protest Netanyahu.
" 'By protesting Israel's leadership one day after Hamas executed an American and five Israelis in cold blood, the protesters are rewarding Hamas for their barbaric acts and blaming their leadership for the loss. This is a very bad message to send to terrorists," Ackman posted on X.
"Ackman cautioned, "I fear it will only embolden the enemy to execute more heinous acts."
"During a press event, Netanyahu warned of the consequences of protests and calls for further concessions after the brutal execution of the six hostages.
" 'What message does this send Hamas?" the prime minister asked. "It says kill more hostages -- murder more hostages, you'll get more concessions."
"Netanyahu was especially critical of the consequences of giving Hamas a win for an international and domestic pressure campaign." . . .
. . ."It's already a given that Joe Biden will leave office as the most cognitively vacant president of the United States in history. There's also a strong argument to be made that he'll be remembered as the most shameless." . . .
. . ."Raise your hand if you think Biden's answer — particularly in the aftermath of the cowardly murder of six hostages by Hamas, with the IDF reportedly close to rescuing them — was morally repugnant." . . .