Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been dispatched by President Biden on a trip to the Middle East this week after the Egyptians brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Blinken's stops include Jerusalem, Ramallah, Cairo, and Amman and the State Department announced planned meetings with leaders in the region including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi and King Abdullah II of Jordan.
At the request of President Biden, I am traveling to Jerusalem, Ramallah, Cairo, and Amman to meet with the parties to support their efforts to solidify a ceasefire. The United States has engaged in intensive diplomacy to bring an end to the hostilities and reduce tensions.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) May 24, 2021
State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in an announcement of the trip that "The United States has engaged in intensive diplomacy to bring an end to the hostilities in Gaza," repeating similar comments over the weekend as the Biden administration seeks to take credit for the ceasefire agreement that was ultimately brokered by Egypt.
But Blinken is being sent on a fool's errand by President Biden. Heading to the Middle East to "discuss essential follow-up efforts to consolidate the ceasefire and reduce risks of further conflict over the coming months" sounds nice, but it's not happening as long as Biden's party continues attempts to block U.S. arms for Israel while echoing Hamas propaganda and emboldening terrorists in the region.
President Biden himself stated last week while commenting on the Middle East that, "Until the region says, unequivocally, they acknowledge the right of Israel to exist as an independent Jewish state, there will be no peace."
But here at home, his fellow Democrats continue to condemn the IDF, act as apologists for Hamas, and attempt to block critical aid to our ally Israel making Blinken's trip to the Middle East hypocritical at best.
Bernie Sanders on Sunday continued the left's practice of depicting Hamas terrorists and Israel's government as moral equivalents. And Secretary Blinken refused to condemn members of Congress who are pushing to cut military aid to Israel and he's also suggested that Israel is acting improperly in targeting Hamas terrorists and infrastructure.
If, as some of these Democrats allege, it's improper for Israel to defend itself, they are implicitly suggesting that Israel ought not exist.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on role of U.S. diplomacy in Israel/Gaza: "We've been working intensively behind the scenes to try to bring an end to the conflict."
— The Recount (@therecount) May 17, 2021
"We're also alarmed by how journalists and medical personnel have been put at risk." pic.twitter.com/5Pn6smBAy5
All this comes as Democrats are sending a message that does not suggest to the world that we have Israel's back, nor the backs of Jews in the Middle East or in the United States. The Biden administration is playing good cop with Iran—the infamous state sponsor of terror, including Hamas—and seeking to loosen sanctions. Democrats in Congress want to block life-saving military aid to Israel. Democrat politicians and media figures refuse to condemn anti-Semitic violence in the streets of New York and Los Angeles.
Yet off goes Blinken at the behest of the Biden administration to call for peace and a two-state solution while their fellow Democrats advance a narrative that only emboldens those who believe Israel does not have a right to exist.