Earlier this month, the Washington Post reported that Joe Biden had been withholding intelligence from Israel regarding the whereabouts of Hamas leaders and their underground command tunnels.
"The Biden administration, working urgently to stave off a full-scale Israeli invasion of Rafah, is offering Israel valuable assistance if it holds 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," the report claimed.
The report continued:
President Biden and his senior aides have been making such offers over the last several weeks in hopes they will persuade Israel to conduct a more limited and targeted operation in the southern Gaza city, where some 1.3 million Palestinians are sheltering after fleeing there from other parts of Gaza under Israeli orders. Israel has vowed to go into Rafah with “extreme force,” and this week Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took a number of steps that raised fears at the White House that the long-promised invasion could be materializing.
It was clear that the Biden administration was protecting Hamas by withholding vital intelligence that could have ended the war. After all, any intelligence that can help pinpoint the location of Hamas leaders or uncover their terror tunnels should be promptly shared with Israel. Holding back such critical information is unacceptable, puts Israeli lives at risk, and prolongs the war. Why wasn't this information immediately shared with Israel when it was first uncovered? Why would Joe Biden protect Hamas terrorists at the expense of our ally, Israel?
As bad as that was, it was actually worse. It turns out the entire thing was a bluff. According to a new report, the "intelligence" the Biden administration was holding back on was outdated and essentially useless.
The report from Middle East Eye says that the United States is intensifying efforts to locate Hamas's Gaza chief, Yahya Sinwar, to help Israel achieve "total victory" and end the war in Gaza.
The current and former officials did not reference any specific intelligence but said one factor driving the debate was that US intelligence was lagging on Sinwar's last whereabouts.
According to the officials, the Biden administration is roughly one month behind on tracking Sinwar's last known location, which was within the Gaza Strip.
Bruce Riedel, a former CIA official who also advised four US presidents on national security, told MEE that the lack of clarity surrounding Sinwar's last location was "pretty bad."
When asked about the timeframe, he said: "One month means you aren't even close to real-time information."
In other words, Biden was trying to trade useless, outdated intelligence to protect Hamas from Israel's planned offensive on Rafah. Imagine being Israel right now. First, you think that Biden is withholding information that could have brought about an end to the war, and now you find out that the Biden administration was using useless intelligence as leverage.
There was very little reason for Israel to trust the Biden administration before, and now there's zero reason.
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