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By JOSH HAMMER
Just as the Israel Defense Forces encircle the Hamas stronghold of Gaza City, calls for a "ceasefire" are accelerating.
For the first week or two after the Hamas Holocaust of Oct. 7, calls for a ceasefire were mostly relegated to far-left, self-hating "Jewish" groups such as IfNotNow and so-called Jewish Voice for Peace, along with the fifth column, jihad-sympathizing Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). In those halcyon days just a short while ago, even White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Hamas Caucus calls for a ceasefire were "repugnant" and "disgraceful."
How times have changed.
During a campaign event Wednesday in Minnesota, President Joe Biden announced his support for an IDF "pause" in Gaza. There is no way to square Biden's newfound equivocation with his clearer stance toward the beginning of the war. As Sen. Tom Cotton tweeted on Thursday, "The Biden administration is mincing words. Calling it a 'pause' instead of a 'ceasefire' makes no difference to Hamas and only gives the terrorists the advantage."
Exactly right.
Biden's obfuscation aside, the reality is that his call for a "pause" represents a 180-degree turn from his earlier, surprisingly clarion remarks standing with Israel. To be sure, everyone should have seen this coming; Biden must secure the Democratic Party's left flank, and polls have suggested Biden's strong initial support for Israel has cost him among Muslim Americans. But the president's reversal came quicker than expected. How soon the blood of 1,400-plus slain by a medieval Islamist death cult is forgotten.
Some of those who have been calling for a "ceasefire" or "pause" in Gaza just want to see more Jews slaughtered. They want Hamas to remain functionally intact and they want Hamas to replicate in the future its barbaric pogrom of Oct. 7. They want to see the (primarily Jewish) hostages currently held in Gaza rot. Tlaib, for instance, is squarely in the "want more dead Jews" category.
Other "ceasefire" or "pause" advocates, such as Biden, are of a less nakedly genocidal bent. These leftists foolishly think that all sides laying down their arms will lead to peace. In reality, there is an extraordinarily simple way to expedite the end of all hostilities in Gaza: Hamas releases all hostages taken on Oct. 7 and unconditionally surrenders to Israel. If Hamas did that, the war would end tomorrow. There would be no further casualties. Surely, all reasonable people can agree that is something to look forward to.
Across two successive Democratic presidential administrations, left-wing foreign policy has been besotted with the notion of "balancing" powers in the Middle East.
Under President Barack Obama, this took the form of undermining America's regional allies, such as Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and bolstering its regional foes, such as the Iranian regime and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Now, under President Biden, with many of the same goons once again running foreign policy, it has taken the form of hamstringing Israel and offering aid and comfort to Hamas. At some point, such delusions cease being merely naive and become outright evil.
It has been a long time since the surrender of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. Many in the West have forgotten what it actually takes, and what it actually means, to win a war.
It is time for Israel to provide a helpful reminder.