Israel's concessions regarding the war in Gaza, at the request of the Biden administration to minimize civilian casualties, have increased the risk to IDF soldiers, according to an editorial in the Wall Street Journal.
The authors note that while Israel and the USA share the goal of eliminating Hamas, Bien's pressure on Netanyahu is extraneous and erroneous. "Israel fights on because it has no other choice if it wants to survive as a state. But many nations see these U.N. votes as consequence-free gestures for peace or solidarity. That a cease-fire now would mean a Hamas victory and the death of Israeli deterrence, bringing on the next massacre and the next war, doesn’t concern them."
"Jerusalem has made concessions to appease President Biden and Secretary Blinken. It is now telegraphing its attacks to the enemy so civilians can flee, and it is using a smaller force with less reliance on air power and artillery. As a result, Israel is taking more casualties. The rising fatality rate is noticed in Israel, if nowhere else," the editorial claims.
The editorial claims that the world does not properly appreciate Israel's efforts in this area. "Israel gets little credit for its sacrifices. Mr. Biden even criticized it Tuesday for “indiscriminate bombing,” a slander so belied by the evidence that the White House tried to walk it back. Civilian casualties in Gaza are tragic, but they are mainly a result of Hamas’s way of embedding in what should be safe civilian spaces."
The editorial concludes with a pointed critique of the Biden administration's attitude towards Israel: "Israel has no good choices here, but America does. The President can focus on supporting a U.S. ally in vanquishing a genocidal enemy."