Biden’s Iran-Sanctions Cowardice

It is becoming hard to avoid the conclusion that Joe Biden regards doing the job to which voters elected him as the biggest obstacle in the path of his reelection. In making the case for his continued tenure in the White House to voters, what Biden needs and what Biden wants are in increasing conflict.

Biden needs Israel to win its war against the terrorist group Hamas — a righteous war in which the U.S. has invested its treasure and prestige — with all possible alacrity. But Biden wants that war to be as sanitary as possible and to avoid association with Israel’s tactics, which prolongs the war and the torment to which Israel’s left-wing critics in the West have subjected the president.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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It is becoming hard to avoid the conclusion that Joe Biden regards doing the job to which voters elected him as the biggest obstacle in the path of his reelection. In making the case for his continued tenure in the White House to voters, what Biden needs and what Biden wants are in increasing conflict.

Biden needs Israel to win its war against the terrorist group Hamas — a righteous war in which the U.S. has invested its treasure and prestige — with all possible alacrity. But Biden wants that war to be as sanitary as possible and to avoid association with Israel’s tactics, which prolongs the war and the torment to which Israel’s left-wing critics in the West have subjected the president.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.