For all the statements in support of Israel from this White House in the wake of the Hamas attack, the sad reality is that the White House isn’t doing everything it could and should.
Many are calling on Biden to refreeze the $6 billion of Iranian funds that he had unfrozen as part of a prisoner swap deal last month.
“We write today to affirm our unwavering support for Israel, our greatest ally in the Middle East, and call on the U.S. Department of State to freeze the accounts in Qatar containing $6 billion in Iranian funds that were released from South Korean accounts in September,” 18 Senate Republicans wrote in a letter to Biden on Monday.
This is such a commonsense move that it’s hard to imagine why it wasn’t done already. Yet not only has it not been done, there’s no reason to believe it ever will be. On Tuesday, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan refused to commit to taking the measure.
“You just laid out all the ways that Iran is complicit and facilitated it … is that reason enough to re-freeze the $6 billion that the U.S. helped unlock for them?” a reporter asked Sullivan.
“We have not yet had a dollar of that $6 billion spent, and I will leave it at that,” Sullivan replied.
Related: Is This Proof the White House Has Been Lying About Iran and the Hamas Attack?
Iran’s financial and logistical role in the planning and execution of the Hamas attack has been confirmed by the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, yet the White House refuses to concede there’s any connection at all between their actions and the attack on Israel.
On Monday night, the Washington Post reported that Iran provided “key support” in the planning and financing of the attack. “The Palestinian militants behind the surprise weekend attack on Israel began planning the assault at least a year ago, with key support from Iranian allies who provided military training and logistical help as well as tens of millions of dollars for weapons,” said the outlet.
Biden delivered a speech about the attack on Tuesday. While he mentioned that Americans were killed in the attacks and others were taken hostage, there was no mention of Iran in his remarks. The White House is actively denying any connection between Iran and the attack on Israel, and it’s clear they won’t take any action against Iran that would indicate they acknowledge the connection does indeed exist. Biden and his advisers are treating this like a public relations problem, not a national security problem, so it is very likely that they will never take any action against Iran.
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