Biden’s mixed signals on Israel send confusing messaging to the world and embolden Hamas

On March 26, I joined 15 other guests at the Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C. for a private screening of the infamous videos shot by Hamas terrorists during their October 7 reign of terror. (We were all invited to Washington by ALL ISRAEL NEWS Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief Joel Rosenberg on the 172nd day of the current war.)

Although I was honored to be among the invitees, I was not looking forward to seeing the footage captured by cameras and iPhones recovered from the bodies of Hamas fighters killed in battles with Israeli Defense Forces. While the footage has not been released to the public due to its extremely graphic images, accounts by others who had previously seen it have been published globally so I knew it was going to be a challenge to watch the screening.

Even with nearly four decades in the news business and having been forewarned of the horrible content we were about to witness, nothing could have adequately prepared me for what unfolded in front of our stunned group. Scene after scene alternated from gleeful faces of Hamas terrorists laughing and screaming as they shot Israeli men, women and children at point-blank range. Or honking their car horns in celebration as they mowed down terrified young people—young adults who looked very much like my own son or daughter—running for their lives while Hamas paragliders descended into the Nova Dance and Music Festival carrying automatic weapons. (Nearly 400 young people were killed or kidnapped at that one event.)

Many of us were sobbing and had tears running down our faces seeing the 47 minutes of nonstop carnage, as men, women and children were indiscriminately slaughtered while Hamas savages were actually phoning their parents in Gaza repeatedly praising Allah and disgustingly shouting things like “Mom, I killed ten Jews with my bare hands. With my bare hands, Mom! I’m a hero!” 

Babies shot in the head. Bodies burned alive. One man was killed by a Hamas grenade in a room where he and his two young sons were trembling; the boys survived—at least for the moment—although one lost an eye from the shrapnel. A family’s dog walking toward Hamas videographers being shot on camera. Images difficult to imagine and impossible to forget.

Seeing these videos—especially on Tuesday of the Holy Week for Christians leading up to Easter—was gut-wrenching and sickening. I kept asking myself how any person created by God could possibly unleash such horrible, cruel violence on other human beings. The brutality we witnessed (so much of which I am not including here) was inconceivable. 

And even more disturbing was the final message at the end of the 47 minutes, that what we had just seen represented less than 10% of the video captured by IDF soldiers.

As the lights went up following the screening, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy Eliav Benjamin entertained a few questions. We wanted to know the Israeli government's reaction to street demonstrations in America, supporting Hamas and criticizing Israel’s prosecution of the war launched in response to the October 7th massacres. 

Benjamin diplomatically avoided political comments but from the pained look on his face and the off-the-record words he shared with our group, it was clear that America being at a crossroads in its relations with Israel is causing deep concern in Jerusalem.

The day before our screening, the United States abstained—rather than issue its traditional veto—during a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in the war with Hamas. This bizarre move by the Biden administration sent shockwaves around the globe…and prompted bipartisan condemnation on Capitol Hill in Washington. Congressman Anthony D’Esposito (R-New York) demanded that any overtures from President Joe Biden or his administration on the war should only be pursued “with the full cooperation and approval of Israel at each step in the process.”

Liberal members of the Democratic Party in Congress also denounced the abstention. U.S. Senator John Fetterman said it was “appalling the U.S. allowed passage of a resolution that fails to condemn Hamas. Representative Josh Gottheimer (D-New Jersey) implied the lack of a U.S. veto “only emboldens Hamas and the safe return of Israeli hostages.”

Reaction in the Epicenter was equally swift. News of America’s abstention prompted Hamas leaders to immediately pull out of hostage release negotiations in Qatar, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office called “a sad testament to the damage caused by the Security Council’s resolution.

Add to this the recent outrageous call by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer for Israel to hold new elections—and, by inference—replace the current Unity Government in Israel. Schumer denied suggestions that his speech was coordinated with Biden, but in the political double-speak that permeates Washington these days, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby confirmed that Schumer “informed the White House the night before his address.” That’s sneaky code for “he told Biden and the President did nothing to stop him.”

Walking out of the Israeli embassy after experiencing the horrors of the Hamas videos, I encountered bullhorn-wielding supporters of Hamas on the embassy sidewalk. They had sirens blaring…some were banging on pots and pans… and all were screaming “Shame! Shame!” at us as we emerged from the Israeli diplomatic compound. I spoke with a couple of the protesters, wondering what they were trying to accomplish. My inquiries yielded only incoherent gibberish about “Zionist warmongers” and how Palestinian boys and girls “are paying the price for Israel’s aggression.”

These misguided souls along with their counterparts on American college campuses and on liberal television networks represent the dark underbelly of American public life. Meantime, misguided Biden administration officials appear to be lumbering through on-the-job training in the Diplomatic Corps while abandoning Israel on the world stage through their devious lies and naïve acceptance of Hamas propaganda. 

The 16 of us who watched those videos at the Embassy of Israel do not have the luxury of street-theater antics or political posturing. We have seen the actual faces of the Hamas terrorists whose brutality kicked off this war and who are now holed up in their last refuge in Rafah. We have seen American “diplomats” whose actions disgrace the United States and telegraph to Israel that the USA—at least under the present administration—cannot be counted on to stand by its friends when the going gets tough.

Most importantly, we have seen the faces of Israeli men, women and children bravely trying to be strong in their last moments before Hamas monsters slaughtered them on camera for their sick pleasure. Those are the faces we will never forget. Ever.