The Washington Post has reported that the Biden administration is withholding sensitive intelligence from Israel on the location of Hamas leaders in Gaza. This is how the Post puts it:
The Biden administration, working urgently to stave off a full-scale Israeli invasion of Rafah, is offering Israel valuable assistance in an effort to persuade it to hold back, including sensitive intelligence to help the Israeli military pinpoint the location of Hamas leaders and find the group’s hidden tunnels, according to four people familiar with the U.S. offers.
When we consider that American and Israeli hostages are likely somewhere in the vicinity of Hamas leaders, this should be an explosive story two or three or six times over. Yet somehow I am not aware of anyone other us resorting to repetition to make the point.
Has the Biden administration denied this story yet? If and when it does, note whether the administration asks the Post for a retraction. Let’s see how it goes.
Jim Geraghty took up the Post story in his May 13 NRO Morning Jolt. although it is somewhat incidental to his point, Geraghty also observes that President Biden appeared at a campaign fundraiser at the Seattle Art Museum on Sunday and for a few moments veered off script (White House transcript here) before losing his train of thought (my hypothesis) or before it dawned on him that his comments tended to belie recent declarations (Geraghty’s hypothesis):
Look, before I begin, let me answer a question related to the hostage deal I get — keep getting asked by the press and all the folks out there.
You know, there would be a ceasefire tomorrow if Hara- — Hamas would release the hostages — the women and the elderly and the wounded. Israel said it’s up to Hamas; if they wanted to do it, we could end it tomorrow. And the ceasefire would begin tomorrow. It all has to do — you know, we’ve not — anyway, I don’t want to — I guess I shouldn’t get into all this about Israel. But, you know — well, I don’t want to get going, I guess. (Laughter.)
But, look, I want to thank you for your support and — for this campaign, especially Brad and — and Kathy Smith. Brad, you’ve been — we were — where — there you are. We were recently in another part of the world — in Wisconsin doing an incredible job.
As the old song goes — like the circles that you find in the windmills of his mind.
