Tom Friedman, Biden Mouthpiece: Force Israel to Let Hamas WinJoel B. Pollak 18 Jun 2024
New York Times columnist Thomas L. “Tom” Friedman, a close associate of President Joe Biden, writes in his latest column that the U.S should force Israel to give up the war against Hamas in Gaza and let the terror group claim “victory.”
Friedman is a “conduit” for messages from the White House about Middle East policy, according to Politico, and therefore his column can be interpreted as a threat to Israel — an “ultimatum,” as Friedman puts it, on the war.
The columnist, once respected for his reporting during the First Lebanon War, has become a Democratic Party mouthpiece, and has even resorted to antisemitic themes. He hates Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with such passion that he urged Biden not to accept a Saudi-Israel peace deal in the weeks before October 7.
Friedman’s latest column continues his decade-old railing against Netanyahu’s support in Congress, and is titled “American Leaders Should Stop Debasing Themselves on Israel.”
In it, Friedman argues for Israel to give up:
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.
…
Yes, yes, I can hear the criticism from the war hawks right now: “Friedman, you would let Hamas’s leader, Yahya Sinwar, come out of his tunnel and declare victory?”
Yes, I would.
Friedman imagines that the elusive Sinwar would hold a “press conference” at which the Times columnist would be permitted to ask the first question, which he would use to blame Hamas for the destruction that has befallen Gaza.
He argues that Israel is committed to the destruction of Hamas only because Netanyahu wants to stay in power — ignoring the fact that opinion polls show the vast majority of Israelis also support the goal of destroying Hamas.
Friedman’s column — and its implied threat — come as Israel is gaining on the ground against Hamas, but also as it faces growing threats from the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah, which is firing at Israel from southern Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued an unusually public and direct appeal to the Biden administration Tuesday not to withhold arms or ammunition from Israel, suggesting that the administration is applying pressure.
https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2024/06/18/tom-friedman-biden-mouthpiece-force-israel-to-let-hamas-win/
