Blinken’s Great Re-Set

Or: On Letting a Crisis go to Waste

During Covid, the Davos crowd was excited about a “great reset” that would re-order the global economy around a “more rational” system with the experts in charge.  “You’ll own nothing and you’ll be happy” was the battle cry in a Davos video  (read this excellent review of a book on it in the Claremont Review of Books  - Conspiracy Theory, Conspiracy Fact). 

We also all know the famous Obama administration quip that you should never let a good crisis go to waste.   In the case of Israel the current State Department under the leadership of Tony Blinken has taken both of those concepts to mean that it’s time to re-hash and dust off the old plans in order to put Israel in its place – to re-set the middle east in order to put those uppity Israelis in their place.

This Democratic administration seems to revel in its disdain for its allies and for its love of appeasing those who want to destroy it.  We have seen it over and over again from Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan, from Israel to the Philippines, from Ukraine to Taiwan.   There is always an initial support but they end up talking out of both sides of their mouths and blame the allies for not doing enough to appease their enemies.   The policy failures are never the fault of the administration. 

It is not really clear what Biden-Blinken meant when they agreed that Israel needs to destroy Hamas but not to actually invade and … destroy Hamas.   We have written elsewhere that this administration seems to think that military force is to be used to send messages and not to solve problems and defeat enemies.  War for them is not “politics by other means” but marketing by other means.  It’s the message, stupid.   A quick look at the Houthis and the US response will prove that.   Even in Ukraine, it seems that their real anger is at Zelensky for fighting back and not for Putin for invading.  There has been no attempt made over the past year to “make the case” to the American people to support Ukraine.  It seems to me that the disdain they hold towards Ukrainians who actually want to liberate their country is the reason why.   One wonders if the Biden-Blinken response to a Taiwan blockade or invasion will be to lose patience with the Taiwanese who want to live freely and to negotiate a proper surrender. 

But the ally it disdains the most is Israel as State has put in motion a systematic process to de-legitimize the Jewish state by kowtowing to anti-semitism and using tactics it has only previously used on  the likes of China, Russia and North Korea.   First it has continued to insist on forcing a Palestinian state on the Israel,  despite the clear indication that it will be an invitation to Iran to be in spitting distance of Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem.  Since the proposed Palestinian state will have to be accepted by the Palestinian leadership itself and since they will not accept anything less than a state in all the West Bank with all of Jerusalem and a return of “refugees”  - it is difficult to understand if this is a serious proposal or just one that is trying to topple the Israel. 

While that is the largest and most critical issue there are other, seemingly minor actions that the State Department is pursuing to delegitimize Israel.   One happened a few weeks ago when the US “sanctioned” three individuals for violence against Palestinians on the West Bank.    The fact that all three of these men are working their way through the Israeli justice system (the one that Biden insisted last year was critical for Israeli democracy) and one is actually in jail means that it treats Israel and its justice system as it does Russia’s.  Next, they have threatened to sanction Israeli soldiers and officers who are fighting terrorism in the West Bank – a clear violation of even minimal treatment for an ally while is at war. 

Finally, in something that has no connection to the Palestinians themselves.   According to a report in the Jerusalem Post, the US Government has opened an investigation into Finkelstein Metals – a small Israeli company that amongst other things makes parts of the Iron Dome anti-missile system.  It has been sanctioned since it has received “illegal government subsidies” - since its factory is in a poor area where the Israeli government gives tax breaks.  Many Israeli companies get tax breaks because of the location of their headquarters or factories (and an American company – Intel gets the largest).  This is standard in any country and it could be that the American federalist system pioneered this as different states give tax breaks to attract business.   The products that it sells are less than 3% of the US market for them – but is 75% of Finkelstein’s sales.  This obviously would destroy the company.  Worse – it would affect nearly all companies in Israel besides those in major cities.   One wonders if State will also sanction Intel products make in Qiryat Gat, Israel. 

Which brings us back to Gaza where, against what seemed to be declared US policy VP Harris called for a cease fire after stating as fact yet another blood libel saying Gazans are starving to death.  As the WSJ pointed out this week “In war, civilians flee to safety. Only in Gaza has the world decided that all civilians must stay trapped in the war zone, in danger and harder to reach with aid. After Egypt closed its border in solidarity with the cause of Palestine—never mind the cost to Palestinians—one would expect Cairo to face great pressure to save lives. The opposite occurred.”   There has been no pressure put on Egypt to temporarily allow Gazans to leave Gaza for Sinai.  There has been no pressure on the Red Cross or the UN to make sure aid did not get to Hamas.  There has been no outcry over the fact that stolen food is sold at exorbitant prices by Hamas and others in Gazan markets.  There has been no pressure on Qatar who hosts Hamas leadership.  Needless to say there has been no blame put on Hamas for causing the alleged starvation in first place.   This is besides the fact that there is no evidence of starvation at all.

We can’t deny that President Biden spoke from the heart after hearing of and possibly seeing the Hamas atrocities and US policy, at least at the start, was to destroy Hamas.  But now – with the war ongoing and with hostages not being named, let alone released, Hamas feels comfortable in not budging from the maximalist negotiating position it has stated all along – nothing until Israel ends the war and withdraws from Gaza.  It can only do this because it is confident that Blinken’s policy is to humiliate, weaken and eventually destroy Israel.  

This is not the way to treat an ally, but the US State Department has never considered Israel an ally – from 1948 when it opposed President Truman’s recognition of the Jewish state, to today.   But it always had to contend with a US President who understood more than the diplomatic experts.    However, there doesn’t seem to be a President today who is capable of telling State to calm down so they have free reign to do as they have always wanted to do – delegitimize and rid the world of Israel.    A “great reset” in the Mideast at the expense of Israel has been the State Department’s dream for 75 years.  When October 7 happened there was an assumption that israel is up against the wall and would be so grateful to Biden-Blinken that it would cave to every whim.  Part of this is Israel’s fault for admitting Blinken into War Cabinet meetings and for not saying “thanks but no thanks” to the US Carrier group in the Mediterranean but the State Department from the first week was already speaking about how to punish Israel (but they used rubber pipes so they could deny it).

If VP Harris, Secretary Blinken and the State Department really want to make sure Gazans don’t starve and the war ends sooner rather than later they will start condemning the real enemies – Hamas, Iran, Qatar and the filthy anti-semites shutting down roads in the US.  Or start pressuring their ally Egypt to take in Gazans temporarily.   But defeating Hamas has never been Blinken’s plan – putting Israel in its place has.