Better in their words…

President Biden certainly deserves appreciation for quickly vowing to stand with and resupply Israel with what materiel it needs in the new war. This could involve billions of dollars. Israelis themselves are laying aside political differences amid talk of a unity government to prosecute the war. In America, nearly all factions are praying for an Israeli victory — and not only because it turns out that Yanks could be among those captured by Hamas.

All the more shocking, though, to hear the Biden administration say it has no evidence of Iran’s involvement in the attacks that began yesterday and are continuing today. Yet that’s just what Secretary Blinken said today on an ABC broadcast. The state secretary conceded that Iran’s support of Hamas over the years has been “clear.” Yet, he said, “we haven’t yet seen direct evidence that Iran was behind this particular attack, or involved.”

Despite our high regard for Mr. Blinken, that strains credulity. It is contradicted by the director, Sarit Zehavi, of a northern-Israel based think tank, known as Alma, which watches Lebanon. She tells our Benny Avni that Alma has “documented Iranian direct involvement for months.” The Wall Street Journal just moved an important dispatch, reporting that Iran helped plot, over several weeks, the attack on Israel and gave the final go-ahead Monday in Beirut.

Mr. Blinken is pushing back against GOP leaders who suggest that the recent transfer of $6 billion for Iran’s “humanitarian needs” figured in Hamas’ decision to attack. “Not a single dollar from that account has actually been spent to date,” Mr. Blinken claims, adding that the account is “closely regulated” by Treasury to ensure funds go only for food, medicine, and medical equipment. Given that all money is fungible, Mr. Blinken must take his countrymen for fools.

One of the things that has emerged from the fighting in Israel’s south is that it is clearly one of Hamas’ war aims to take hostages. Hence the horrifying pictures of grandmothers, women, and children being spirited from their villages by Hamas terrorists and driven into Gaza. This follows by weeks the Biden administration paying ransom of more than a $1 billion a head for hostages Iran has been holding. What will Hamas ask? What will Mr. Biden pay?

If indeed, as Mr. Blinken suggests, the six billion spondulix are yet to be transferred to Iran from a Qatari bank, why would America let this deal go forward now that Hamas, an Iranian proxy army, has so barbarically attacked Israeli citizens? Washington has the wherewithal to halt the $6 billion payment and renege on the ransom deal now that the hostages Iran has held are back on American soil. So what’s going on?

The answer seems to be that President Biden’s team remains wedded to the idea that appeasing the Islamic Republic is feasible  — never mind all the evidence to the contrary.  Iran and its “death to Israel” coterie is adamant to stop any American-backed peace between Israel and Arab countries, and especially the overly-advertised Washington push for a treaty between Jerusalem and Riyadh, which has emerged against Israel in the war.

Other Arab countries, including members of the Abraham accords, were similarly unsympathetic, indicating that by enabling Hamas brutality, the Iran-led axis’ efforts were successful. The feasibility of a Saudi-Israeli deal has always been a long shot, and Mr. Biden has made it more so by publicizing every twist in the supposedly-secret negotiations. He may well be playing the politics of Washington and Jerusalem. He’s no fan of Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Which brings us back to Mr. Biden’s initial vow to arm and stand with Israel. It will not be helped by his administration trying to put the gloss on the Iranian ayatollahs. If the goal is to create a pro-American Mideast bloc of Arabs and Israelis, Mr. Biden will have to abandon his instinct for appeasement. Why should that be so hard when it was money, arms, and training from Iran that delivered the horrors that the ayatollahs are now celebrating?