In a scathing opinion piece, Thomas Friedman called on the Biden administration to give Israel a deadline and force it to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, urging the president to stop sending Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the region until Israel agreed to a ceasefire with Hamas.
Friedman, who is considered close to the Biden administration and has often used his column to send indirect messages from the Oval Office to Israeli decision-makers, highlighted that Israel is caught in a vice grip by the regional powerhouse Iran and its allies, including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Shiite militias in Iraq. He emphasized that Israel currently lacks a military or diplomatic solution to this multifaceted threat. Compounding the issue, Israel faces the prospect of a three-front war – in Gaza, Lebanon, and the West Bank – with the added risk of Hezbollah's precision missiles capable of devastating Israel's vital infrastructure.
Friedman condemned the invitation extended to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by House Speaker Mike Johnson to address a joint session of Congress on July 24, calling it a reward for the prime minister and an attempt to sow division among Democrats. He accused Netanyahu of disloyalty to President Biden for accepting the invitation, which Friedman believes is more about domestic US politics than Israel's interests. "You wonder if the 'friends' of Israel have any clue about the nature of its government. This government is not your grandfather's Israel and this Bibi is not even the old Bibi," Friedman remarked, referring to the unprecedented coalition agreement. "No friend of Israel should participate in this circus. Israel needs a pragmatic centrist government that can lead it out of this multifaceted crisis — and seize the offer of normalization with Saudi Arabia that Biden has been able to engineer," he said.
Quoting former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Friedman echoed concerns about the "worst failure in Israel's history" and the risk of a multi-front war involving Iran and its proxies, all while the government pursues a "judicial coup" aimed at establishing a "racist, ultranationalist, messianic and benighted religious dictatorship."
Friedman urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken not to make another trip to Israel without securing an agreement between Israel and Hamas to end the war and withdraw from Gaza in exchange for the return of Israeli hostages. He advocated for Israel to accept Hamas's demand, arguing that Israel cannot think clearly while the group holds its people captive.
"Indeed, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has made eight trips to Israel since Oct. 7, should not make another without Israel and Hamas agreeing to a clear war-ending plan. He is debasing his and US power. This is ultimatum time. Biden should be telling Israel that it should accept Hamas's key demand: Totally end the war now and withdraw from Gaza in exchange for the return of all Israeli hostages. Israel cannot think straight while Hamas holds its people," he wrote. "If Israel can end the war in Gaza, it can lead to a US-mediated deal with Hezbollah to quiet the northern border war – which has been terrible for civilians on both sides," Friedman wrote, calling for a pause, rethink, and new elections in Israel.
While acknowledging the criticism he might face for allowing Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to declare victory, Friedman questioned the true nature of such a "victory," as it would merely return Gaza to the pre-war status quo of an Israeli withdrawal and a stable ceasefire – a scenario he believes many Gazans would ultimately question given the immense destruction and loss of life caused by the conflict.
"Sadly, if all this war does is buy Israel another long timeout with Hamas, well, maybe that's all that's possible. After all, up to now, the real history of Jews and Palestinians, going back to the early 20th century, has been: war, timeout, war, timeout, war, timeout, war, timeout, war, timeout. And the real difference is what each side did in the timeouts," Friedman concluded, suggesting that the cycle of violence and temporary ceasefires might be the reality, with the true challenge lying in how each side utilizes these "timeouts."
