In an opinion piece riddled with misleading information and outright lies, President Joe Biden hailed his administration’s decision to restore funding to the Palestinian Authority, credited his administration for stopping the last war between Hamas and Israel, and defended his decision to visit “pariah” Saudi Arabia.
In the piece, titled “What I hope to accomplish in Saudi Arabia and Israel” and published in the Washington Post on Saturday, Biden vowed to keep “human rights” and “fundamental freedoms” on his agenda.
“My views on human rights are clear and long-standing, and fundamental freedoms are always on the agenda when I travel abroad, as they will be during this trip, just as they will be in Israel and the West Bank.”
Oddly, the president took credit for ending the 11-day conflict between Israel and the Hamas terror group in May 2021, even though the ceasefire deal was brokered by Egypt.
“In Israel, we helped end a war in Gaza — which could easily have lasted months — in just 11 days. We’ve worked with Israel, Egypt, Qatar and Jordan to maintain the peace without permitting terrorists to rearm.”
It is also highly unlikely that the conflict would have lasted months. There is no precedent for such an occurrence, with previous flare-ups between Hamas and Israel lasting as little as a week.
Biden also praised his administration’s decision to reinstate funding to the Palestinian Authority. The Trump administration cut aid to the Palestinians over its so-called pay-for-slay scheme paying convicted terrorists and their families, which the PA has deemed a “noble national deed” that will never be stopped. According to the PA’s Finance Ministry, roughly NIS 100 million ($30,000) is paid out per month to around 35,000 terrorist prisoners and their families.
“We also rebuilt U.S. ties with the Palestinians,” Biden wrote. “Working with Congress, my administration restored approximately $500 million in support for Palestinians, while also passing the largest support package for Israel — over $4 billion — in history. And this week, an Israeli prime minister spoke with the president of the Palestinian Authority for the first time in five years.”
Biden also hinted at expanding ties under the Trump-led Abraham Accords normalizing ties between Israel and Arab nations. He pointed to his direct flight from Israel to Saudi Arabia a sign of things to come between the two nations.
“On Friday, I will also be the first president to fly from Israel to Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. That travel will also be a small symbol of the budding relations and steps toward normalization between Israel and the Arab world, which my administration is working to deepen and expand.”
Biden is due to land on Wednesday for a whirlwind trip to Israel that will include meetings with Israeli leaders, a tour of the newly minted Iron Beam air defense system, a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, and a speech at the opening ceremony of the Maccabiah Jewish Olympic games.
The American president will meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem, and is expected to announce measures aimed at strengthening the PA, a senior US official told The Times of Israel.