Let Kfar Aza Be One of the Places the World Remembers Forever

Never will I forget visiting a kibbutz in southern Israel called Kfar Aza, “Gaza Village” in Hebrew. At the time, I served as spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department and traveled with a small group of colleagues to better understand the impact of U.S. policy in the region. That day, we shared a meal with residents of the village, walked through their bomb shelters and nursery rooms, and listened to their fears of living so close to the Gaza Strip — just three miles to their west.We toured a nearby tunnel that the terrorist organization Hamas built to transport fighters and weapons from Gaza, and spoke with officers of the Israel Defense Forces about the threat posed by Hamas and Iran. Never did I think that just a few years later, Kfar Aza would come under attack with a depravity that has horrified the world.All the signs were there, though. While intelligence services failed to identify the broader plot, Hamas and its Iranian benefactor have shown the world their clear-eyed determination to destroy Israel and her friends. In recent years, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, a military unit, targeted and killed hundreds of American servicemembers in Iraq; Iranian rockets and missiles have been fired at our diplomatic facilities abroad; Iranian-funded groups have launched attacks on domestic airports in the Gulf; and Iranian operatives have plotted assassinations of civilians around the world, including in America.Kfar Aza Kibbutz in Israel in 2013. Deror Avi via Wikimedia CommonsLast year while visiting Israel, I was told by government officials that Iran was actively looking for Israeli targets of opportunity – citizens — to murder anywhere they could be found. Astonishingly, White House officials allowed assassination plots against America’s highest former government officials, including my former boss, Secretary of State Pompeo, to go unanswered.All these data points must shape our foreign policy and our approach towards Iran, yet in recent years reality has been pushed aside. The Biden administration, along with many sophisticates in the West, including the news media, ignored or downplayed Iran’s malign acts. Worse yet, the Biden administration has sought to engage — and appease–the terrorist regime.It’s a complete turnaround from the Iran policy established by the prior administration, which imposed tough sanctions, prevented the Islamic republic from selling oil, and canceled the disastrous nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration. That deal — known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — was considered the crown jewel of President Obama’s foreign policy, but it was a sweetheart deal for Iran, which was caught red-handed violating some of its provisions. The deal perpetuated Middle East conflicts, allowed for the continued development of ballistic and cruise missiles that could deliver nuclear warheads, enabled the regime to line its pockets, and failed to make America safer.President Trump was right to exit the deal in 2018, though his decision was severely undercut by the former secretary of state, John Kerry, who secretly met with Iran’s foreign minister, Javad Zarif, to discuss ways to stay in the deal. Mr. Trump called this out as “illegal shadow diplomacy” that undermined U.S. foreign policy, and he was right to do so, but Iran only had to bide its time.Once the Biden team took office, President Biden put in place policies that emboldened Iran. One change allowed Iran to buy and sell military equipment. By not fully enforcing sanctions, the administration allowed billions to flow into Iranian coffers.Iran never uses money for the betterment of its people. Instead, Iran funds weapons programs and funnels money to proxy groups including Lebanese Hezbollah and Hamas, which receives 90 percent or more of its money from the Islamic Republic of Iran.In September, the administration began the process to provide Iran with access to $6 billion in exchange for freeing American hostages. By doing that, the administration bolstered Iran. For nearly a week, the administration twisted itself into knots defending the windfall it was eagerly providing this state sponsor of terror. Team Biden has encouraged, emboldened and enabled Iran. I would like to think, though, that it may not be too late to reverse — quickly, even — course and take steps to contain Iran’s malign behavior. The White House would have to acknowledge that its policy of Iranian appeasement has not worked. It would have to begin approaching Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah as the global threat they are, not as they want them to be.This would require withholding funding, fully enforcing sanctions, and reaching across party lines to incorporate realistic policies that current Biden officials have long resisted. Mr. Biden pledged on Tuesday that America would provide Israel with weapons and funding to protect itself, but that’s not enough.Americans and Republicans in Congress will have to come together and steel ourselves against the scourge of terrorism, much like we did after 9/11 or during ISIS’ rampage across the Middle East. If Israel does not succeed, Iranian-funded groups will come at the Jewish state from all sides, including Lebanon and Syria, and will murder more innocent Jews before turning on other peoples. Which brings me back to Kfar Aza. That once peaceful, lovely village I saw full of life will be known forever as the place where Hamas killed — beheaded, in some cases — 40 babies as it went from house to house in a spree of cold-blooded murder. For those, including Americans, who are at a loss for will in this fight, Kfar will serve as a reminder. It will for me. For as long as I live, I will always think of the kindness they showed me and their fear of an attack from Hamas.

Let Kfar Aza Be One of the Places the World Remembers Forever

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