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The White House Abandoned Israel at the UN; Will Jews Abandon Biden?
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan addresses the UN Security Council at UN headquarters in New York City, US, March 22, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mike Segar
In failing to veto the UN Security Council Resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, the Biden administration has abandoned Israel. Many observers predicted this day would come, having seen the writing on the wall with increasingly hostile rhetoric directed at Israel in general, and Prime Minister Netanyahu specifically.
Optimistic observers dismissed the tough talk as an attempt to appease critics and maintain support within the Democratic caucus ahead of a tough election. Some say the same about the UN vote itself. On Saturday, Biden signed a funding package that eliminated aid for UNWRA until 2025 and provided $3.3 billion for Israel, which will supply its Iron Dome and other defense needs. So many Jews were hopeful that Biden still would stand behind Israel in its efforts to fully defeat Hamas.
That optimism was damaged on Monday, when Israel found itself with no ally on the Security Council. In a stunning display of shortsightedness, Biden capitulated to pressure from his left flank. In analyzing the decision to withhold a US veto, the question is whether this will help Biden in the long run.
If Biden acted to prevent Israel from entering Rafah, then he miscalculated badly. Israel will surely enter Rafah now, and Biden will appear weak because his diplomatic prowess was inadequate to prevent it. It may appease some in his party, but it’s a bad move for all those who believe Israel is justified in removing Hamas from power.
After the vote, Israel recalled the contingent it had planned to send to Washington at Biden’s request to discuss alternatives to a full Rafah incursion. The administration is said to be “perplexed” by what they consider an “overreaction” from Israel. The fact that the administration is perplexed suggests that they do not understand the significance of their actions, which is frightening. For weeks, negotiations towards a hostage deal were taking place, and progress was being made on that front. Hamas had accepted that there would be no permanent ceasefire as a condition of the deal.
Predictably, Hamas responded to the UN resolution on Monday by rejecting the most recent proposal and going back to its original position that Israel must withdraw from Gaza entirely in exchange for the release of hostages. All of the progress that was made to get to the most recent proposal has been undone. By allowing a ceasefire resolution to pass, Biden has materially undermined these negotiations. If a ceasefire can be imposed on Israel without the return of hostages, then Hamas has no incentive to release them. In essence, the UN vote doomed the negotiations and the hostages — not to mention, Israel’s hope of preventing future October 7 attacks in the long-term.
Biden has been walking a tightrope, trying to support our ally in Israel without jeopardizing his political fortunes at home. However, leadership means sticking to difficult decisions despite criticism. A great leader does not succumb to political pressure in making historic decisions. That Biden caved to pressure when leadership was needed most, is a historic blemish on his record that he will most certainly suffer for politically.
Once again, Jews are alone on the world stage. Once again, the US has abandoned Israel in a true time of need. The US’ policy is a huge moral failure, and politics is never more important than doing what’s right.
Kenneth Blake is a former state prosecutor and teaches Critical Thinking and Government in Petaluma, California.
The post The White House Abandoned Israel at the UN; Will Jews Abandon Biden? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘With or Without Russia’s Help’: Iran Pledges to Block South Caucasus Route Opened Up By Peace Deal
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
i24 News – Iran will block the establishment of a US-backed transit corridor in the South Caucasus region with or without Moscow’s help, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader was quoted as saying on Saturday by the Iran International website, one day after the historic peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“Mr. Trump thinks the Caucasus is a piece of real estate he can lease for 99 years,” Ali Akbar Velayati said of the so-called Zangezur corridor, the establishment of which is stipulated in the peace deal unveiled on Friday by US President Donald Trump. The White House said the transit route would facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources.
“This passage will not become a gateway for Trump’s mercenaries — it will become their graveyard,” the Khamenei advisor added.
Baku and Yerevan have been at loggerheads since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, prompting or forcing almost all of the territory’s 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.
Yet that painful history was put to the side on Friday at the White House, as Trump oversaw a signing ceremony, flanked by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The peace deal with Azerbaijan—a pro-Western ally of Israel—is expected to pull Armenia out of the Russian and Iranian sphere of influence and could transform the South Caucasus, an energy-producing region neighboring Russia, Europe, Turkey and Iran.
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UK Police Arrest 150 at Protest for Banned Palestine Action Group
People holding signs sit during a rally organised by Defend Our Juries, challenging the British government’s proscription of “Palestine Action” under anti-terrorism laws, in Parliament Square, in London, Britain, August 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
London’s Metropolitan Police said on Saturday it had arrested 150 people at a protest against Britain’s decision to ban the group Palestine Action, adding it was making further arrests.
Officers made arrests after crowds, waving placards expressing support for the group, gathered in Parliament Square, the force said on X.
Protesters, some wearing black and white Palestinian scarves, chanted “shame on you” and “hands off Gaza,” and held signs such as “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,” video taken by Reuters at the scene showed.
In July, British lawmakers banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged planes in protest against Britain’s support for Israel.
The ban makes it a crime to be a member of the group, carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
The co-founder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, last week won a bid to bring a legal challenge against the ban.
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‘No Leniency’: Iran Announces Arrest of 20 ‘Zionist Agents’
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addresses a special session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
i24 News – Iranian authorities have in recent months arrested 20 people charged with being “Israeli Mossad operatives,” the judiciary said, adding that the Islamic regime will mete out the harshest punishments.
“The judiciary will show no leniency toward spies and agents of the Zionist regime, and with firm rulings, will make an example of them all,” spokesperson Asghar Jahangiri told Iranian media. However, it is understood that an unspecified number of detainees were released, apparently after the charges against them could not be substantiated.
The Islamic Republic was left reeling by a devastating 12-day war with Israel earlier in the summer that left a significant proportion of its military arsenal in ruins and dealt a serious setback to its uranium enrichment program. The fallout included an uptick in executions of Iranians convicted of spying for Israel, with at least eight death sentences carried out in recent months. Hit with international sanctions, the country is in dire economic straights, with frequent energy outages and skyrocketing unemployment.
In recent weeks Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi affirmed that Tehran cannot give up on its nuclear enrichment program even as it was severely damaged during the war.
“It is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe. But obviously we cannot give up of enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists. And now, more than that, it is a question of national pride,” the official told Fox News.