Late last week President Biden dispatched administration officials to conciliate offended opponents of Israel’s war on Hamas. They were sent — where else? — to America’s jihad capital (i.e., Dearborn). The delegation included deputy national security adviser Jon Finer and USAID administrator Samantha Power. Their object was to smooth relations with the locals.
Readers with a long memory may recall Samantha Power as the author of “A Problem From Hell“ and an Israel hater who served in the Obama administration. Power now serves as the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development. She and her friends are themselves a problem from hell.
The New York Times obtained a recording of one of the private meeting with the locals (one featuring Finer). Referring to Finer, the February 9 Times story ran under the headline “In Private Remarks to Arab Americans, Biden Aide Expresses Regrets on Gaza.” Subhead: “In a closed-door meeting, the aide offered some of the administration’s clearest notes of contrition for its response to the Gaza war, a sign of rising Democratic pressure on President Biden.” The Times of Israel draws on the Times for this accessible version.
As reported by the Times, Finer’s remarks suggest that a Palestinian state is the key to resolution of the problem and that the administration means to impose one:
“We will have to do things for Saudi Arabia that will be very unpopular in this country and in our Congress,” Mr. Finer said. “Will Israel be willing to do the hard thing that’s going to be required of them, which is meaningful steps for the Palestinians on the question of two states? I don’t know if the answer to that is yes. I do not have any confidence in this current government of Israel.”
No conceivable Israeli administration supports the creation of a Palestinian state. Among other reasons, that is attributable to the fact that Israelis overwhelmingly oppose it — as do Palestinians themselves, unless their state replaces Israel. See, for example, the December 2023 Gallup survey results reported here.
I could go on, but let me conclude with this point. The Times story was published this past Friday, just before the Israelis announced the discovery of the top secret Hamas data center directly beneath UNRWA’s Gaza headquarters. The story includes this note on the recorded meeting:
[T]he [administration] officials committed to issuing a letter clarifying the administration’s support of the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which the United States temporarily cut funding for after Israel accused some of its staff members of participating in the Oct. 7 attack.
As UNRWA is exposed as an arm of Hamas, the Biden administration stands with it. It’s a postscript that perfectly represents an administration rotting from the head.
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