Most of us were not surprised when Joe Biden began to back away from his support of Israel in the Gaza War. We assumed he was responding to the demands of his far left, to the Muslims in Michigan, and to the pro-Palestinian protestors. His focus is on the elections in November, and he believes that betraying Israel is his path to his success. And he’s acting accordingly.

The latest blow to the U.S.-Israel alliance has arrived in two parts. First, Biden has refused to send specific weapons to Israel if they invade Rafah (which they are certain to do). He has said that Israel must have a plan to reduce civilian casualties. Ironically, the weapons he is withholding are targeted weapons which reduce the damage and losses. The fact that Israel is publicizing locations for the Palestinians to avoid the fighting, through text messages, fliers and other promotions are apparently not satisfactory efforts to reduce casualties. The fact that Biden has not explained how Israel must respond to reduce victims is telling.