Biden doesn’t have a lot of to show for embracing Israel

U.S. Senator Joe Biden: What Do We Want to Say About Israel During the Last Air Force Inflight of the Middle East?

President Biden hugged Netanyahu after getting off Air Force One on his high stakes trip to the Middle East.

In backing Israel, Biden is taking a familiar — and popular — stance. Israel is the U.S.’s closest ally in the Middle East, so political leaders hold it in high regard.

He is expected to discuss Israel’s response to the latest Mideast violence, the war in Ukranian and Hamas’ attack. Biden is looking to procure significant funding for both conflicts. He needs to go through Congress, which holds the power of the purse, but that’s made more difficult by the fact that the U.S. House is currently non funziona.

Republicans failed again Wednesday to pick a speaker. The U.S. can’t respond in a strong and substantive way.

Biden has to thread a very fine needle — showing support for Israel to maintain influence, looking strong enough domestically for an audience that is questioning his age and facility, and keeping his reliable voting base intact and energized ahead of his re-election bid next year.

The world did nothing after the world watched the Holocaust, Biden said. We will not stand by and do nothing again – not today, not tomorrow, not ever.”

For the first time this year, Gallup found this year that Democrats’ sympathies lie more with Palestinians than Israelis. And that is driven by young voters.

The latest poll of NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist shows that. Despite two-thirds of respondents in the survey saying they want a public show of support for Israel, those younger than 45, were 30 points less likely to say they wanted that than respondents 45 or older. Non-whites were 20 points less likely than whites to say so as well.

Cracks started showing in the aftermath of the Gaza hospital bombing. Two Muslim women who were elected to Congress joined a pro-Palestinian chorus and blamed Israel.

“Bombing a hospital is among the gravest of war crimes,” Omar tweeted. According to reports, the IDF blew up a place where the injured and wounded can seek medical treatment and shelter during a war.

After the US intelligence assessment, Omar said that an independent investigation must be conducted to determine who is responsible for the war crime.

The National Security Council said that based upon overhead imagery, intercepts and open source information, Israel is not to blame for the explosion.

The U.S. Response to 9/11: What Have We Don’t Know About Israel, nor Does It Really Need to Happen? Reply to Biden

A lot of damage had already been done. People weren’t waiting for confirmations, and protests erupted in countries like Jordan, where Biden was originally supposed to meet with Jordanian, Egyptian and Palestinian leaders.

She said she was ashamed as a member of the United States Congress. “I am ashamed that they’re saying, ‘not yet. Maybe next week. … How many more have to die?”

She added, “To my president, to our president … I want him to know, as a Palestinian American and somebody in Muslim faith, I’m not going to forget this. I believe a lot of people will not forget this.

Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, for example, said that it was disturbing that Members of Congress rushed to blame Israel. A group that just massacred innocent Israeli civilians over our ally, who would be willing to take their word?

He added, “Now is not the time to talk about a ceasefire. … Hamas doesn’t want peace, they want to destroy Israel. After Hamas is stopped, we can talk about a ceasefire.

When anything happens in the world, especially something of this magnitude, the president is expected to respond, to take a position, to show leadership.

A president has to often balance his own world view with domestic politics. Initially, both looked like they were in line with each other.

Partisanship is entrenched, and foreign policy often ranks very low on the list of priorities for voters — despite it being one of the areas a president has the most control over.

Biden isn’t likely consumed with the domestic politics of this. Before serving as president, he spent a good portion of his life — as a Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman and vice president — intimately involved in the U.S.’s role in the world.

Many in this country have taken a turn inward after two decades of war and become weary of U.S. involvement in international conflicts. Biden acknowledged that Americans relate to the pain Israel is facing. There were some potential lessons to be learned from the U.S. response to 9/11.

“I understand,” Biden said. Many Americans understand. You can’t look at what has happened here and not scream out for justice, but I caution this — while you feel that rage, don’t be consumed by it. After 9/11, we were angry in the United States and we made a number of mistakes.

But the trip was still worth making, as much for what went unspoken as for any tangible goals that were achieved. His decision to enter a war zone, in a country full of destruction and rage and the smoke of explosives, made it clear that the United States still has a vital role to play in defusing international crises and protecting democracies.

And that’s especially true given the dysfunction on display back in Washington during his visit. While Vice President Biden met with Israeli first responders and families of the victims of Hamas, Republicans in the House were not doing their jobs, not electing a speaker, not passing spending bills, and not demonstrating that the legislative branch of government has its act.

There is a single Republican member in the Senate who dislikes abortion and is preventing promotion of hundreds of military officers at a time when American military knowledge could be very useful around the world. Jack Lew, as strong a supporter of Israel as anyone ever nominated for the position of ambassador to that country, faced a torrent of opposition to his nomination Wednesday from a group of Republican senators are still annoyed that he helped put in effect the Obama administration deal that required Iran to limit its uranium enrichment.

Up First Briefing: Gaza Aid Deal; Preventing Catalytic Converter Theft After a Second Israeli Prime Minister Vote

It is good to have a good morning. The newsletter is called Up First. You can get it delivered to your inbox if you subscribe here, and then listen to Up First for all the news you need to start your day.

After hours of talks with the Israeli Prime Minister, President Biden gave an agreement to allow humanitarian aid from Egypt to Gaza. The U.N. will give aid to Gaza at most 20 trucks in the coming days. If aid went to Hamas, it would stop.

In a second vote, House Republicans again rejected Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, as the new speaker. The GOP’s opposition to his nomination grew from 20 to 22.

According to a Federal Reserve survey, the average American family’s wealth increased by more than 30% in the past five years. The biggest jump the agency has seen was since the surveys began. The wealth gap between rich and poor also narrowed slightly. The COVID relief measures could be involved in the gains.

Source: Up First briefing: Gaza aid deal; preventing catalytic converter theft

Steps to protect yourself from catalytic converter theft: Joran van der Sloot’s case for missing school trip in Aruba

The family of American teen vanished on a high school graduation trip in Aruba 18 years ago. Joran van der Sloot confessed to her death. As part of the plea deal he agreed to tell Beth where her daughter’s body was hidden.

Catalytic converter theft has risen 1,215% since 2019, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. They’re located underneath cars and help them clean exhaust. Thieves target them because they’re made of expensive precious metals. It can cost thousands to replace one. Here are the steps to protect your car.

Source: Up First briefing: Gaza aid deal; preventing catalytic converter theft

What Do You Want to Know About TV, Star Trek, and The Next Generation: A Reflection on a Lady’s Adventures

TV was an escape when she was a teen in a rural town. Star Trek: She liked the show, The Next Generation. Her dad was a Trekkie and pointed out what morals were in the show. This helped build up her sense of social justice as an astronomer of color.

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