THE CEASEFIRE DEAL THAT WASN’T

The proposal Biden put forward last week had little basis in reality

President Joe Biden delivering remarks on the war in Gaza at the White House last Friday. / Photo by Demetrius Freeman/the Washington Post via Getty Images.

The political panic is on, as it should be, in the Biden camp, and the president’s latest whopper, so far unremarked upon by what passes these days for the major media in America, came at an abruptly scheduled presidential briefing last Friday, a day after the conviction of Donald Trump.

The president, after praising the judicial system as the cornerstone of America, turned to the Middle East and announced: “I want to give an update on my efforts to end the crisis in Gaza. For the past several months, my negotiators . . . have been relentlessly focused not just on a ceasefire that would inevitably be fragile and temporary but on a durable end to the war.

“One that brings all the hostages home, ensures Israeli’s security, creates a better ‘day after’ in Gaza without Hamas in power, and sets the stage for a political settlement that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.

“Now, after intensive diplomacy carried out by my team and my many conversations with leaders of Israel, Qatar, and Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries, Israel has offered a comprehensive new proposal. It’s a roadmap to an enduring ceasefire and the release of all hostages.”

The talk sounded great and made a lot of headlines. It was also, as I learned speaking with a well informed American official, pure political bunkum. There was no breakthrough offer of a “comprehensive new proposal” from Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other leaders in Tel Aviv, as they would make clear in subsequent days, had no idea what the president and his increasingly desperate political aides were talking about.