The Double Play Is On!

The United States announced its withdrawal of its Carrier Battle Group from the Mediterranean while reassuring the region of its commitment to a naval presence in the area. The double play is on as Israel prepares to strike Hezbollah while containing Iran’s proxies in Syria.

The Americans have no wish to be seen as partners in Israel responding to Hezbollah’s ongoing aggression on the Jewish State’s northern towns and settlements. They wish to maintain their pseudo-neutrality between Israel and Iran. America’s self-interest is based on an unsentimental analysis of underlying factors, including the resourcefulness of adversaries opposing American interests and values. To be effective, the U.S. believes in the need to court Iran’s favour, which considers the strategic element of policy in terms of what the American people will support and sustain through the presidential election process. As the American domestic debate descends into an anti-Jewish, anti-Israel narrative, President Biden has opted for realism over idealism. America’s pragmatic choice will eventually backfire, leaving her isolated and ineffectual in the international arena. Like the last days of the Roman Empire, America will find itself surrounded by enemies from without and within that will sap her moral strength and deplete her treasure.

The United States is experiencing a breakdown of the National Consensus. Its bipartisan consensus on Israel is fast eroding and will not be restored in the future. The new Liberal-Woke America no longer shares the same long-term goals with Israel, and as a consequence, one has to question the moral validity of the American enterprise. One also has to question America’s insistence that Israel adopt a policy of containment and avoid initiating large-scale offensive measures. This American policy came under strain on October 7, 2023, as Iran let its proxy Hamas off the leash to affect Israel’s calculations and degrade its confidence in success. With the Americans restraining Israel’s desired response, the Iranians and their proxies saw only weakness to be exploited by pressing its own perceived military advantage. The Islamists and their Western allies used the insurgency to enhance the discomfort of the Western public with a Jewish victory.

Netanyahu has now made it clear to the Americans that there is no going back to a pre-October seven balance of power. The Jewish State will not accept America’s insistence to renounce victory as an objective, and as a result, it has pre-empted the withdrawal of the USS Gerald R. Ford Naval task force, washing its hands of any involvement in what comes next.