Remember what Robert Gates wrote in his 2014 memoir about Joe Biden's foreign-policy acumen? “I think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades,” Gates concluded in Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War.

 Well, good news: Biden's streak remains unbroken. Yesterday, the president that abandoned 14,000 Americans to a radical jihadist regime in Afghanistan and who has left a number of American hostages in the hands of Hamas declared Israel's handling of the war Hamas launched a "mistake." Biden lamented that Israel wouldn't unilaterally declare a six-to-eight week cease fire, without even mentioning the hostages:

“I think what he’s doing is a mistake,” Biden said of Netanyahu. “I don’t agree with his approach.”

The president appeared to specifically cite the drone attack that killed the aid workers from World Central Kitchen, calling it “outrageous,” and said their vehicles did not pose a threat.

“So what I’m calling for is for the Israelis to just call for a cease-fire, allow for the next six, eight weeks total access to all food and medicine going into the country,” Biden added. “I’ve spoken with everyone from the Saudis to the Jordanians to the Egyptians. They’re prepared to move in. They’re prepared to move this food in. And I think there’s no excuse to not provide for the medical and the food needs of those people. It should be done now.”

How bad was this? The White House had to clean up Biden's mess almost immediately by declaring that of course Biden meant that this was conditioned on releasing the hostages:

A senior White House official said the president reiterated the administration’s long-standing policy, that a cease-fire would only come in conjunction with a hostage deal.

So why didn't Biden mention that while demanding that Israel unilaterally stop fighting in Gaza? Either Biden forgot about the hostages or he doesn't care about them. All Biden wants is to force Israel into retreat so that he can win Dearborn, Michigan in November and get the campus radicals around the nation back in line with Democrats. Biden couldn't even bring himself to mention the five Americans that Hamas kidnapped six months ago and still hold to this day.

Are they even still alive? According to reports over the last few hours, those prospects look grim indeed. Israeli media reported late yesterday that Hamas negotiators have told mediators that they cannot supply 40 live hostages for the first phase of the US proposal, and now no one's sure if any of the hostages remain alive. CNN reported on it this morning as well:

The framework that has been laid out by negotiators says that during a first six-week pause in the fighting, Hamas should release 40 of the remaining hostages, including all the women as well as sick and elderly men. In exchange, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners would be released from Israeli prisons.

Hamas has told international mediators – which include Qatar and Egypt — it does not have 40 living hostages who match those criteria for release, both sources said. CNN’s record of the conditions of the hostages also suggests there are fewer than 40 living hostages who meet the proposed criteria.

The inability — or unwillingness — of Hamas to tell Israel which hostages would be released, alive, is a major obstacle, the second source added. With Hamas appearing to be unable to reach 40 in the proposed categories, Israel has pushed for Hamas to fill out the initial release with younger male hostages, including soldiers, the Israeli official said.

The mediators should insist on proof of life for all hostages, or all bets are off in Rafah. Israel should definitely demand that as a condition for any exchange of prisoners they have currently in prison for terrorism, as Hamas demands on a 10:1 ratio at the moment. If the 'civilian' hostages are dead, then the IDF soldiers and younger men should be presumed dead too unless clear proof of life is provided. 

Thus far, though, Hamas has controlled these negotiations, in large part thanks to the utterly stupid interventions and policies of Biden and Antony Blinken. Proclamations like Biden's adds strength to Hamas' position by pressuring Israel into further concessions. Even a child could grasp that, but Biden is too wrapped up in pandering to his lunatic-fringe anti-Semites and Hamas sympathizers to see anything. 

Biden also gets Israel wrong, thanks to his far-Left blinkering and lifelong incompetence. He can't even see, or at least won't acknowledge, that Benjamin Netanyahu is not calling the shots alone and that the overwhelming majority of Israelis want to finish the job in Rafah. The unity government in Jerusalem is essentially a triumvirate of Netanyahu, Benny Gantz, and Yoav Gallant, and those decisions are being driven by Israelis who are realizing that their 17-year pas de deux with Hamas did not result in their moderation, but in an acceleration of their genocidal ambitions. Biden is singling out Netanyahu for Biden's own political purposes, which is both terribly dishonest and incredibly unhelpful for our key ally. 

Perhaps a better proposal would be for Biden to shut up for six to eight weeks about Israel, especially since he's not even mentioning Hamas any more. Even better: withdraw the US from the negotiations in Qatar, since Hamas keeps rejecting Biden's generosity, and let Israel and Hamas finally finish this 17-year war once and for all. Biden's cravenness is the last thing this conflict needs.