The Biden-Harris administration remains allergic to an Israeli victory. No sooner had Israel completed a first down in their war against Hezbollah than Washington put the play under review (despite claiming to be Israel’s ally, the administration acts more like a not-so-neutral officiating crew). As with Hamas, the White House is demanding that Israel negotiate with another terrorist outfit so that it can survive to kill Israeli civilians another day.

Before Hezbollah could recover from Israel’s daring electronicsexplosions, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) followed up with conventionalstrikes that eliminated key terrorists long wanted by the United States. Standing in proximity to so much success put the Biden-Harris administration decidedly out of its element, and they decided to ruin the winning streak at all costs.

Conveniently, diplomats from all over the world had already gathered in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly this week, and the Biden-Harris administration eagerly set about winning adherents to its Very Bad Idea. While the rest of the world spent two days bashing Israel rhetorically, U.S. diplomats huddled with a motley crew to devise a way to betray Israel more concretely.

By Wednesday, the plan was ready. The United States convinced Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar to join the anti-Semitic chorus of “Ceasefire Now!”

The 11 parties released a joint statement proposing a 21-day ceasefire that may as well have been written in crayon: “The situation between Lebanon and Israel since October 8th, 2023 is intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation. This is in nobody’s interest, neither of the people of Israel nor of the people of Lebanon.”

“The situation between Lebanon and Israel” that began on October 8, 2023 is that “Hezbollah began launching airstrikes at northern Israel shortly after Hamas’s October 7 attack last year,” explained Family Research Council President Tony Perkins on “Washington Watch” Thursday. This situation is intolerable because tens of thousands of civilians in northern Israel cannot return home due to the daily threat of Hezbollah’s shelling.

This situation persisted for nearly a year without international diplomats paying it any attention. “Israel has been tolerating this intolerable situation for nearly a year,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the U.N. “Well, I’ve come here today to say enough is enough.”

A new situation “between Lebanon and Israel” (in reality, between Hezbollah and Israel) developed earlier month. Israel began fighting back in earnest to neutralize the threat so that its citizens can return to their homes. This development finally jolted the diplomat class out of their apathy, prompting them to swiftly declare that this defensive military objective “presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation.”

“Why is this international effort only happening now? Why are they calling for a ceasefire now that Israel is fighting back?” asked Perkins.

“The Biden administration has been conducting shuttle diplomacy since October and November of last year, but it has been unsuccessful,” answered Eric Bordenkircher, Research Fellow at the UCLA Center for Middle East Development. “It’s been unsuccessful because one of the combatants in this conflict is a non-state actor, and … you’re not going to negotiate with them. And the Lebanese state has does not have the ability to kind of enforce any settlement or any agreement.”

“The situation is a product of a weak or almost nonexistent Lebanese state,” continued Bordenkircher. In part, this is due to the fact that “the government currently is illegitimate. It’s a caretaker government. The Lebanese had elections, but they haven’t been able to form this recent manifestation of the government.” Municipal elections have been delayed three times in a row, the presidency is vacant, and the parliament cannot agree on a new government. Meanwhile, a caretaker government with limited powers has tried to keep the country running since mid-2022.

With such an impotent government, “Hezbollah operates as a state within the Lebanese state and basically does what it wants,” said Bordenkircher. “This conflict that they started on October 8 when they decided to act in solidarity with Hamas was done without the green light or even conferring with the Lebanese.”

Even if it was functional, the Lebanese government could do little to resist Hezbollah. “You have members of … Hezbollah in the … parliament and then also elements within the government … and they have this ability to often block political developments,” he explained. “But their militia, which is distinct from the political party, operates independently of the Lebanese state.”

The Biden-Harris administration’s U.N. huddle was never going to work because it left out the key players. As CNN reported, “Israel and Hezbollah have yet to agree.” Yet the administration ecstatically touted the “important breakthrough” anyways and acted “shocked” and hurt when Israel and Hezbollah didn’t agree.

“There’s no resolution with groups like this. Hezbollah doesn’t want to coexist with an Israeli state,” protested Bordenkircher. “It’s not looking to compromise, or at least not looking to compromise in the long term. … Attempts at negotiations and settlements [are] basically appeasement, just very temporary.” The last settlement negotiated by the Biden-Harris administration between Hezbollah and Israel only lasted a year or two, he said.

For his part, “Prime Minister Netanyahu has instructed his military to keep fighting with full force,” Perkins noted. “Our policy is clear,” Netanyahu told reporters when he arrived at the U.N. “We continue to hit Hezbollah with all our might. We will not stop until we achieve all our goals.”

Late Wednesday into Thursday, Hezbollah launched another 45 rockets into Israel, and Israel struck 220 additional targets, including weapons depots, launchers, and militants. On Friday afternoon, Israel launched another strike on Hezbollah’s central headquarters, located underneath residential buildings in a Beirut suburb. The unusually large explosion aimed to kill Hezbollah’s top commander.

“The Israelis have to take matters into their own hands here and degrade the organization considerably in order to be able to have a semblance of security, of peace along their northern border,” said Bordenkircher. “It’s a path to peace that’s going to require, I think, a great deal of destruction and fighting, at least in the short term.” But he said many Lebanese would be “happy to see this organization go. Whether that’s the case and how that’s going to happen is the million-dollar question.”

The Biden-Harris administration’s diplomatic pressure on Israel to cede its battlefield advantages “is the wrong policy here,” concluded Bordenkircher. “The Biden administration should allow the Israelis to do what they’re doing here for the moment.”