By William Koenig
Joe Biden’s two-state comments and his calling for a soon end to the Israeli-Hamas war have corresponded to impeachment inquiry and actions and Hunter Biden’s increasing serious legal problems. This week the U.S. House voted on a Joe Biden impeachment inquiry and Hunter Biden defied GOP subpoena.
This pattern has been incurring over the past few months. When Israel is publicly or “behind the scenes” pressured by Joe Biden and his administration Joe Biden and Hunter Biden’s legal problems share the headlines.
We’ll watch closely the activity on Israel’s northern border and inside Lebanon this week. Moreover, the situation with Iran backed Houthis in the Red Sea is becoming more intense. Two major world shippers Denmark’s AP Moller-Maersk and Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd AG are halting their shipments in the Red Sea.
-----
Biden Israel pressure and legal problems for the family
Tuesday, December. 12, 2023
Biden: You cannot say there’s no Palestinian state at all in the future
During remarks at a campaign reception on Tuesday, December 12, President Joe Biden stated, "Bibi understands that he’s got to make some moves to strengthen [the PA] — strengthen it, change it, move it. You cannot say there’s no Palestinian state at all in the future. And that’s going to be the hard part."
-------
Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023
The House on Wednesday authorized the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, with every Republican rallying behind the politically charged process despite lingering concerns among some in the party that the investigation has yet to produce evidence of misconduct by the president.
The 221-212 party-line vote put the entire House Republican conference on record in support of an impeachment process that can lead to the ultimate penalty for a president: punishment for what the Constitution describes as “high crimes and misdemeanors,” which can lead to removal from office if convicted in a Senate trial.
Biden, in a rare statement about the impeachment effort, questioned the priorities of House Republicans in pursuing an inquiry against him and his family.
----
Hunter Biden defies House Republican's subpoena that he testify in private
On Capitol Hill Wednesday morning, Biden told reporters he would testify publicly, but the GOP-issued subpoena called for him to appear for a closed-door deposition.
-----
Biden aide: Israel taking steps to protect civilians that even US might not have done
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby suggests that some of the steps the IDF has taken to prevent civilian casualties in Gaza might go further than what the US would have done if it were in Israel’s place.
Kirby highlights the map the IDF published alerting civilians as to which neighborhoods it is planning to attack, so that they can evacuate ahead of time.
“That’s basically telegraphing your punches. There are very few modern militaries in the world that would do that. I don’t know that we would do that,” Kirby says during a press briefing.
----
Thursday, December 14, 2023
US leaves open possibility of Hamas retaining power
The U.S. State Department on Thursday refused to rule out the possibility of the Hamas terrorist organization retaining power or joining a Palestinian Authority-led governing body for the Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria.
“We have been clear about our position on Hamas, which the United States designated as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997 due to its premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets,” a U.S. government spokesperson told JNS.
-----
Friday, December 15, 2023
Can Biden’s cognitive dissonance let Israel win the war?
The president’s rhetoric continues to turn against the Jewish state, but as long as the military aid keeps flowing, his appeasement of anti-Israel Democrats won’t save Hamas.
---
Israel aid supplemental critical for long-term defense, possible second front, experts say
“Israel has nowhere near the capacity they need to deal with a major war with Hezbollah,” said Brad Bowman, of FDD. “We have to sound the alarm so that the people that can actually do something about it can fix it.”
---
Sullivan says Palestinian Authority must be ‘revamped’ before it can govern Gaza
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan reiterated the US’s stance that the Palestinian Authority should be responsible for governing Gaza at the end of Israel’s war with Hamas, but acknowledged that it would need to undergo significant changes to be fit to do so.
Israel has routinely rejected the idea of the Palestinian Authority taking the reins, something which Sullivan did not address during the press briefing, choosing instead to discuss the US’s position.