Professor of Law Eugene Kontorovich is one of the world’s preeminent experts on universal jurisdiction and maritime piracy, as well as international law and the Israel-Arab conflict.
(JNS) Here is a list, in no particular order, of some of concrete ways the Biden-Harris administration undermined Israel and encouraged the Iranian axis, even in the months after Oct. 7, 2023—and how the Trump administration can swiftly rectify them.
1) Making BDS government policy by creating a sanctions program aimed at Jews living in Judea and Samaria.
2) Preventing Gazans from fleeing conflict to increase pressure on Israel: The Biden Administration supported the Hamas/Egypt policy of keeping Gazans trapped in Gaza, the only people in the world not allowed to flee a conflict. Joe Biden treated Egypt’s border with Gaza like he should have treated America’s with Mexico, and vice versa. Asylum seekers to America in any number, to Egypt in no number. Now Trump can flip the script.
3) Biden’s “Four No’s”: By stressing the Iranian axis can pay no territorial price for its aggression (“no reduction in territory”), Biden gave Hamas and Hezbollah an insurance policy, and set the stage for them to threaten Israel again. Donald Trump can make clear that invading neighboring countries is not guaranteed to be an at least break-even proposition.
4) Canceling Trump’s sanctions on the International Criminal Court, and then refusing to support bipartisan legislation holding ICC officials accountable after they sought to indict Israeli officials for defending the country from Hamas. Trump understands the ICC is simply the international version of the lawfare that has been directed at him.
5) Undermining the Pompeo Doctrine, which announced that Jews living in Judea and Samaria is not a war crime. It is schizophrenic to have this legal issue toggle with every administration. Now Congress can enshrine this position into law.
6) Protecting the U.N., UNRWA and UNIFIL even as it justified Oct. 7 and allowed one of its agencies, UNRWA, to become a Hamas front, and UNIFIL to be a defensive screen for Hezbollah. Trump can again defund UNRWA, but also end its immunity to lawsuits for supporting terror, and cancel UNIFIL, saving American taxpayers hundreds of millions.
7) Weapons hold-ups, of course. The most important thing Trump can do is help Israel become self-sufficient in production.
8) Diplomatic weakness. More than four times as many countries recognized a “State of Palestine” in the past year than in the entire first Trump term. Trump can make clear to other governments that rewarding Oct. 7 is not something America will look favorably on.
All this just gets us back to what should be a baseline—supporting a close ally as it fights for its survival against genocidal Islamist militias and states on many fronts. These Biden administration policies have prolonged the war.
After this—it will be time to talk about finally resolving the conflict in a way that will bring peace to the region, rather than set the stage for the next pogrom.