Actually, it’s a bad idea. It is unnecessary for any bona fide purpose. There’s a war going on. A ceasefire would benefit Hamas and undermine Israel’s operation. It will increase the risks to which the IDF is exposed.

Forgive my resort to the clichéd formulation, but only clichés come to mind. I’m so old I can remember when Biden expressed unqualified support for Israel’s self-defense following Hamas’s October 7 exercise in mass murder. Biden expressed such support in his October 7 statement, just a little over three weeks ago. We knew he didn’t mean it and that the statement carried a short shelf life.

[Why would anyone take military advice from the author of the Kabul Collapse anyway? Jazz has more on this earlier, but as Scott notes, this doesn’t appear to be a Biden gaffe. The White House said yesterday that newly confirmed Ambassador Jack Lew would be tasked with getting conditions in place for a humanitarian pause in the fighting. Biden’s disgrace and cowardice knows no limits. And yes, the headline reflects my take rather than Scott’s, although I don’t think my friend would disagree with it. — Ed]