Biden Admin Loses Its Stomach for Israel’s Self-Defense

By and large, Biden administration officials have said all the right things about Israel’s obligation to neutralize the intolerable threat posed by the Iranian proxy groups on its borders. But that resolve dissipated rapidly when Israel embarked on its mission to destroy Hamas, which suggests the Biden administration supported it only in theory.

Axios reported on Sunday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin rang his Israeli counterpart to convey the “growing anxiety” in the White House that Israel’s calibrated response to Hezbollah’s provocations along the Israeli-Lebanese border risks “escalating tensions.” Worse, the administration appears to have internalized the idea that Israel is responsible for those tensions — a conclusion that inverts the sequence of events.

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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By and large, Biden administration officials have said all the right things about Israel’s obligation to neutralize the intolerable threat posed by the Iranian proxy groups on its borders. But that resolve dissipated rapidly when Israel embarked on its mission to destroy Hamas, which suggests the Biden administration supported it only in theory.

Axios reported on Sunday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin rang his Israeli counterpart to convey the “growing anxiety” in the White House that Israel’s calibrated response to Hezbollah’s provocations along the Israeli-Lebanese border risks “escalating tensions.” Worse, the administration appears to have internalized the idea that Israel is responsible for those tensions — a conclusion that inverts the sequence of events.

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.