But even if this pier is constructed at sea and successfully anchored to Gaza at some point (the project remains in the planning stages), the problem of distributing the aid it is meant to facilitate persists. That’s where the Israel Defense Forces come in, apparently. Politico reported on Wednesday that the IDF has agreed to create a “security bubble” around the pier to “protect the U.S. personnel building the pier as well as the individuals involved in offloading and distributing the aid.”

So much for the fiction that there would be “no U.S. boots on the ground” in Gaza. Additionally, the administration’s request for Israeli security to protect Americans would not be necessary if Israel had not experienced attacks on its troops amid efforts to disburse humanitarian assistance in Gaza, both from its besieged civilians and Hamas terrorists. And despite all this effort, Biden is unlikely to benefit from the gratitude of Israel’s critics.