Biden faces fallout over Iran deal after Hamas attack on Israel

The political fallout for President Biden from the surprise attacks on Israel by Hamas mounted Sunday as the Jewish state began a retaliatory campaign against the Palestinian militant group in Gaza.

U.S. officials reaffirmed America’s strong support for Israel while they assessed whether Israeli-Americans might be held hostage or how many of those with dual citizenship were killed in the stunning series of coordinated attacks. 

More than 700 people were killed, thousands more injured. Upwards of 100 are thought to have been kidnapped and are being held inside the Gaza enclave. The Biden administration and the Israeli government of President Benjamin Netanyahu are already facing questions over how such an elaborate and deadly attack could have been organized and carried out.

“We have reports that several Americans were killed [and] we’re working to verify that,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday on CNN. “At the same time, there are reports of missing Americans, and there again, we’re working to verify those reports.”

The danger to a critical American ally — and the fact that Hamas has long received financial and military support from Iran — had Mr. Biden and his aides on the defensive Sunday.

Congressional Republicans, GOP presidential candidates and conservative critics doubled down on their condemnation for President Biden having conducted a prisoner swap in September with Iran that included unfreezing $6 billion in oil revenues as part of the deal that secured the release of the Americans. Critics argued that Mr. Biden was indirectly enabling violence from the terrorist group that controls the Gaza Strip along Israel’s southern border. 

“I’m also concerned about the $6 billion in lifted sanctions that [will go] into Iran,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, Texas Republican, said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I don’t think it played a part in this event, but it certainly could play a part in any future terror activities.”

Sen. Tim Scott, Republican senator and candidate for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, was more blunt: The weekend’s attack was “the Biden $6 billion ransom payment at work.”

“We didn’t just invite this aggression, we paid for it,” Mr. Scott charged in a statement.

The administration has strongly rejected that the funds will prop up Iran’s support of terrorism. Officials say the money has yet to be released and insisted it will be able to track how the money is spent.

“These funds have absolutely nothing to do with the horrific attacks today and this is not the time to spread disinformation,” Adrienne Watson, a spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, told the Associated Press

Iran defended the Hamas surprise attack and called it a significant defeat for Israel, but gave no official sign it helped organize or knew in advance what its ally was planning to do.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, campaigning in Iowa for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, focused on an apparent gap in Mr. Biden’s schedule: The president told reporters he was briefed on the Hamas uprising Saturday morning at the White House — seven hours or more after the first salvo of Hamas missiles was being reported.

“The president needs to be there answering the call when our top ally in the Middle East is under the gun,” Mr. DeSantis told reporters. “You can’t be sleeping on the job. You’ve got to get there, you’ve got to do it, and you’ve got to engage.”

Israel retaliates

Meanwhile, Israel began its retaliation. Mr. Netanyahu declared war and vowed to “take mighty vengeance for this black day.” 

Israel conducted air strikes in Gaza and began amassing troops and military equipment, raising expectations of a ground invasion.  

For Democrats, ambivalence about Israel and the hard-right, religious coalition government Mr. Netanyahu heads quickly surfaced in the wake of the first attacks Saturday.

The House Democrats’ far-left “Squad” urged Israel to exercise restraint in its military response to the surprise coordinated attack, highlighting what they said was the repressed, impoverished state of Palestinians in Mr. Netanyahu’s Israel.

Rep. Cori Bush, Missouri Democrat, said the U.S. “must do our part to stop this violence and trauma by ending U.S. government support for Israeli military occupation and apartheid,” while Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar said Gaza “doesn’t have shelters or an Iron Dome” missile defense system like Israel to protect its citizens.

Their aggressively pro-Palestinian viewpoints underscored the range of pressures from within the Democratic Party being exerted on Mr. Biden as he navigates this foreign policy crisis.

Mr. Biden was more forceful in his support of Israel, saying Saturday that “Israel has the right to defend itself and its people. Full stop.”

Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American in Congress, said U.S. aid to Israel was akin to “funding to support the apartheid government.” 

“I am determined as ever to fight for a just future where everyone can live in peace, without fear and with true freedom, equal rights and human dignity. The path to that future must include lifting the blockade, ending the occupation and ending the apartheid system that creates the suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance,” Ms. Tlaib said in a statement. “The failure to recognize the violent reality of living under siege, occupation and apartheid makes no one safer.” 

The Squad members condemned all violence after the attacks but also highlighted the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza from where the surprise attack on Israel was launched.

“Palestinians are human beings who have been besieged and are deserving of protection from the international community,” Ms. Omar posted on X. 

Ms. Bush said: “A military response will only exacerbate the suffering of the Palestinians and Israelis alike.”

Ms. Bush’s statement elicited widespread criticism on social media, including from fellow Democrats.

Christopher Hale, who was a Biden delegate to the Democratic National Convention and ran unsuccessfully for Congress in Tennessee, scolded Ms. Bush.

“Congresswoman Bush, I am a Democrat, but this is like putting out a statement mourning the deaths of the nineteen hijackers along with the 2,900 murdered in the 9/11 attacks. The grandchildren of the Holocaust deserve stronger support against terrorism than this.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat in the Squad, posted on social media that an “immediate cease-fire and de-escalation is urgently needed to save lives.”

A Biden warning

Mr. Biden declined to address criticism lobbed his way during remarks made at the White House on Saturday. He focused on U.S. commitment to the foreign ally, promising to “never fail” to have Israel’s back.

“There’s never a justification for terrorist attacks,” Mr. Biden said. “In my administration, the support for Israel security is rock solid and unwavering.”
The president also warned against other foreign actors taking advantage of the situation. 

“Let me say this as clearly as I can,” Mr. Biden continued. “This is not a moment for any party hostile to Israel to exploit these attacks to seek advantage. The world is watching.”

Mr. Blinken on Sunday suggested the goal for Hamas and Iran of the unprovoked attack was to erode warming diplomatic ties between Israel and Arab powers, a process both the Trump and Biden administrations have actively encouraged.

“It’s no surprise that those opposed to the efforts to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, and more broadly to normalize Israel’s relations with countries throughout the region and beyond, who oppose it, Hezbollah, Hamas, and Iran,” Mr. Blinken said on ABC’s “This Week.” “To the extent that this was designed to try to derail the efforts that were being made, that speaks volumes.”

Mr. Blinken added: “Right now, the focus is on dealing with this attack, dealing with Hamas. And we’ll come to the normalization efforts, which, by the way, are incredibly difficult when it comes to Saudi Arabia and Israel. Lots of hard issues to work through.”