The cast of MSNBC’s Morning Joe kicked off their Thursday show by declaring that Republicans not passing aid for Ukraine puts them on the same side as Vladimir Putin so, by their own logic, not even an an hour later they aligned themselves with Hamas as they demanded President Joe Biden go around Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and undermine the Israeli war effort.
Against the news that Israel is creating a buffer zone inside Gaza, Politico White House Bureau Chief Jonathan Lemire asked President Emeritus of the Council of Foreign Relations Richard Haass, “Is it time that whatever funding deal does or get done, to start putting conditions on aid to Israel?”
Haass did not explicitly say yes, but it is clear he sympathizes with the view, “this is another example where the United States is saying things and it is being rebuffed and it makes us look weak, would be the generous word. It makes us look feckless and quite honestly as you go around the world, a lot of people who were sympathetic to Israel on October 7th, appreciative of American support, think we've essentially lost the narrative and we've been so unconditionally supportive, that it’s a mistake.”
Haass then ran through three options the U.S. could do. The first was, as Lemire suggested, “tie some strings, say we won't give you this kind of ordinance, you don't need these large weapons, or if we give them to you, you can't use them against these kind of targets, that sort of thing. Or in this case, you say, you can't use American aid to build a buzzer zone inside of Palestinian territory, that'd be one thing.”
Secondly, Haass floated the idea of abandoning Israel at the United Nations, “Secondly, in the United Nations, rather than abstaining or vetoing resolutions, why don’t we think about, what is it we can put forward ourselves, what kind of resolution critical might we support.”
Third, Haass apparently thinks that if Netanyahu was replaced then things would be dramatically different as he endorsed a plan that if the roles were reversed would have MSNBC screaming about foreign interference, “Most important, I think the president has to finally acknowledge that Bibi Netanyahu is not a partner. Bibi Netanyahu has an agenda that’s all about Bibi Netanyahu. It is not even good for Israel, I would argue, let’s put that aside, but it’s not good for the United States, not good for this relationship.”
Haass insisted that:
He has to go over his head. The president needs to give a speech to the Israeli people, essentially saying, where you are, what needs to change in your short-term policy, what needs to change over the long-term, how the United States is with you, but you've got to do things that are not only in the interest of this relationship, in your own self-interest and he's got to be sensitive. The Israelis are still not ready to talk about certain issues given the trauma of October 7th, but the president has to start shaping the political context in Israel.
Continuing, Haass claimed this is really not that controversial, “Good news is, Joe Biden is far more popular in Israel than Bibi Netanyahu. He has an enormous opportunity to shape the conversation and the context of what will ultimately be an Israeli election.”
Biden has higher approval ratings than Netanyahu because he’s a foreigner who thus far has ignored people like Haass and the rest of Morning Joe.
Co-host Joe Scarborough chimed in to add that it’s Netanyahu’s fault that Israel’s critics demand it let Hamas off the hook, “Well, and you know, Richard, the problem is, Bibi Netanyahu has done just about everything he can do to blow the goodwill that, not just the United States, but the world, for the most part, was giving to Israel and we support Israel, like you said. Joe Biden has always supported Israel.”
He then falsely added, “But Bibi Netanyahu is the guy that, again, knew this attack was coming, had information on it for a year, had Qatar continue to fund, you know -- they've given billions to Hamas. In September, said, yeah, keep giving them money.”
There is no evidence that Netanyahu saw any of the documents circulating among Israel’s national security apparatus that Hamas was planning such an attack.
Here is a transcript for the January 25 show:
MSNBC Morning Joe
1/25/2024
6:46 AM ET
JONATHAN LEMIRE: Is it time that whatever funding deal does or get done, to start putting conditions on aid to Israel?
RICHARD HAASS: You're right, first of all, this is another example where the United States is saying things and it is being rebuffed and it makes us look weak, would be the generous word. It makes us look feckless and quite honestly as you go around the world, a lot of people who were sympathetic to Israel on October 7th, appreciative of American support, think we've essentially lost the narrative and we've been so unconditionally supportive, that it’s a mistake.
There’s only three things we can do, Jonathan. One is with—as you suggest, tie some strings, say we won't give you this kind of ordinance, you don't need these large weapons, or if we give them to you, you can't use them against these kind of targets, that sort of thing. Or in this case, you say, you can't use American aid to build a buzzer zone inside of Palestinian territory, that'd be one thing.
Secondly, in the United Nations, rather than abstaining or vetoing resolutions, why don’t we think about, what is it we can put forward ourselves, what kind of resolution critical might we support.
Most important, I think the president has to finally acknowledge that Bibi Netanyahu is not a partner. Bibi Netanyahu has an agenda that’s all about Bibi Netanyahu. It is not even good for Israel, I would argue, let’s put that aside, but it’s not good for the United States, not good for this relationship.
He has to go over his head. The president needs to give a speech to the Israeli people, essentially saying, where you are, what needs to change in your short-term policy, what needs to change over the long-term, how the United States is with you, but you've got to do things that are not only in the interest of this relationship, in your own self-interest and he's got to be sensitive. The Israelis are still not ready to talk about certain issues given the trauma of October 7th, but the president has to start shaping the political context in Israel.
Good news is, Joe Biden is far more popular in Israel than Bibi Netanyahu. He has an enormous opportunity to shape the conversation and the context of what will ultimately be an Israeli election.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Well, and you know, Richard, the problem is, Bibi Netanyahu has done just about everything he can do to blow the goodwill that, not just the United States, but the world, for the most part, was giving to Israel and we support Israel, like you said. Joe Biden has always supported Israel. But Bibi Netanyahu is the guy that, again, knew this attack was coming, had information on it for a year, had Qatar continue to fund, you know -- they've given billions to Hamas. In September, said, yeah, keep giving them money.
