Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt and retired Army Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer told Newsmax that the White House ensnared Israel in a "trap" on Monday that resulted in our country's No. 1 ally looking like the bad guys against a terrorist regime.
Hamas, knowing that's in on the brink with Israel's impending invasion to eradicate them from Rafah, announced that they accepted the terms of the cease-fire. One problem: It was a watered-down proposal — written unilaterally by Egypt, Holt reported earlier — that Israel did not author nor would accept.
But with the White House talking up the prospects of the cease-fire in Gaza that President Joe Biden wants so badly, they played right into the hands of the trap for Israel set by terrorists.
"This was a trap. This was what we call an information operation. It was designed to have the outcome you witnessed," Shaffer said on "American Agenda." "Now, we are all smarter than the average bear. But it doesn't change the fact that the perception you mentioned is what they were trying to achieve."
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby briefed reporters Monday and pressed the case for Hamas.
"We had hoped that there would be word very, very soon, and we certainly hoped it would be would today," Kirby said, adding that the administration will continue to push for a cease-fire. "Time is of the essence here."
"Today was a master class by one John Kirby relating to what he did and what he said. That was a master class of swamp speak, and let me be very clear: that through what John said, he was simply trying to restate and reshape exactly to help the Palestinians," Shaffer said. "Nothing John said today, by the way, did anything to help the Israelis and what they were trying to do. As a matter of fact, he basically confirmed … that, that the issue relating to the reported arms shipments, which are being stopped by the White House, is true."
It was reported Sunday that the Biden administration put a hold on a shipment of American-made ammunition to Israel last week amid concerns over an Israeli invasion of Rafah.
"So, they [Biden administration] supported the Hamas information operation. They're now depriving the Israelis of necessary weapons. This was a horrible day for the United States and the Biden White House regarding our ally, the Israelis," Shaffer said.
Holt added that the Biden administration just showed Israel's enemies how easily it's willing to split the alliance with our ally.
"It's very dangerous because if you're gonna try to deter anything in the Middle East, to include Iran and Iran aggression through these proxies and Iran itself, how are you going to do that without our No. 1 ally in the region? Now we've got this big, massive split. People see that they can split that alliance and everybody's watching.
"This is how we get dangerous effects around the world."
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Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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