How Biden Helped Israel Destroy Gaza

I sat down with Akbar Shahid Ahmed to discuss his new book, Crossing the Red Line: Biden, His Advisors, and Israel’s War in Gaza, an extraordinary feat of reporting based on interviews with more than 150 people inside the Biden administration. Even as someone who follows nearly every story from the region, I was genuinely shocked by several of the revelations Akbar shared. As usual, we went longer—and more in-depth—than the typical podcast interview. But I think you’ll find the conversation engaging and illuminating all the way through. The conversation transformed my understanding of the Biden administration’s role in Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and I suspect you’ll have a similar experience. Among the subjects we cover: \* The suppression of damning reports and legal findings about Israel’s conduct in Gaza \* What a much-diminished Biden actually knew about the suffering in Gaza, and how his closest advisors controlled the information reaching him \* Biden misleading Senator Bernie Sanders into holding back a Senate vote challenging weapons sales to Israel \* Kamala Harris listening to a recording of Hind Rajab’s murder—and choosing not to act on what she heard \* Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s refusal to sanction an Israeli military unit implicated in torture and sexual assault, despite concrete evidence and a recommendation from his own officials \* Gaza as a testing ground for the tactics and legal justifications of future American wars \* The Biden administration’s private acknowledgment of ethnic cleansing in the West Bank—and its decision to let it continue virtually unchecked \* Hamas leaders’ surprise at just how much humiliation Biden was willing to tolerate from Israel \* The key officials who facilitated Israel’s war in Gaza, their concerns about potential personal liability for aiding and abetting war crimes, and the prestigious new jobs many have since landed \* The continuity between Biden and Trump, and how the former’s decisions laid the groundwork for the latter’s policies in Gaza and beyond Akbar’s book is an invaluable contribution to the historical record of the Biden administration’s active role in the destruction of Gaza. Please consider picking up a copy here. Lastly, to my Jewish subscribers, G’mar chatima tovah. May this Yom Kippur be an occasion not only for reflection and atonement, but for reckoning with what’s being done in our name. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.infinitejaz.com/subscribe