Ceasefire Politics
Why Biden and the Democrats couldn't close the deal
“Cease-fires freeze conflicts rather than resolve them.” — Hillary Clinton
“Now, after intensive diplomacy carried out by my team and my many conversations with leaders of Israel, Qatar, Egypt, and other Middle Eastern countries, Israel has offered a comprehensive new proposal. It’s a roadmap to an enduring ceasefire and the release of all hostages.” — Joe Biden, 6/6/24
As Gaza burned and global protests demanded an end to the slaughter in Gaza, President Biden found himself boxed in, not just by Netanyahu’s war cabinet, but by his own party’s neocon flank. The most telling intervention came from Hillary Clinton, who, in a November 2023 Atlantic op-ed, warned that a ceasefire would “freeze the conflict” and leave Hamas in power. Translation: Peace is premature if it doesn’t come with regime change.
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Clinton’s stance provided cover for Democratic leaders, such as Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer and others, who echoed the same logic. The result? Biden couldn’t close the deal and left it for Trump and the MAGAs.
It brings back memories of 1968 for me, when the Democrats were the Vietnam War party and left it to Nixon to end that war.
By 2023, progressive Democrats were demanding an end to Israel’s apartheid rule, an end to the bombing, and a pullback of U.S. arms shipments. The Biden White House instead offered aid corridors that they couldn’t deliver, and moral ambiguity that they could.
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Biden’s early tactic was to embrace Netanyahu tightly—offering billions in aid and shielding Israel from international pressure—in hopes of gaining private leverage. The theory is that if the U.S. publicly showed unconditional support, it could influence Israeli policy behind closed doors. But, as Mother Jones reported, this “bear hug” gave Netanyahu impunity, not accountability. Israel crossed Biden’s red lines repeatedly, and the White House imposed no consequences
Clinton’s op-ed functioned like a firewall, defining the boundaries of acceptable dissent and attacking anti-war protesters. She reinforced the war party’s strategic consensus, publicly patronizing student Gaza protesters in May 2024, accusing them of being misinformed and historically ignorant. These were the same young activists who would be needed as the ground troops for the Biden/Harris campaign.
In an interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, she said:
“They don’t know very much at all about the history of the Middle East or, frankly, about history in many areas of the world, including in our own country”.
She framed the campus protests as driven by propaganda rather than education, criticized TikTok and social media platforms for spreading what she called “willfully false” and “incredibly slanted, pro-Hamas, anti-Israel” content.
In the end, Biden’s promised peace agreement never happened. His hands weren’t tied by Republicans. They were tied by the same Democratic Party power brokers who still believe that American credibility rests on Israel’s impunity.
That, in my opinion, is one of the biggest reasons Harris lost the election, and Democrats’ approval ratings remain lower than Trump’s as we head towards 2026.
Meanwhile, Trump shows up in the Knesset, declares “the war is over,” (doubt it), and hands out red hats that say Trump the Peace President. It’s theater—but it’s effective theater. And in American politics, performance often trumps policy.
The ceasefire, which Trump and much of the corporate media prematurely celebrated as a peace agreement, is, at best, a fragile truce brokered under political pressure and built on a foundation of lies.
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Meanwhile, MAGA media surrogates on Fox News continue to push propaganda that the No Kings protests planned for October 18th are “pro-Antifa hate America rallies.” In reality, they’re peaceful demonstrations against tyranny and authoritarianism, the very values Trump’s movement is now actively undermining.
A huge turnout on Saturday will go a long way in slowing Trump’s fascist assault on democracy.
Prospects: Some of my friends don’t agree with me on this. However, in the long run, I think prospects are good because, as it was in ‘68, people’s power, with or without Democratic leadership, is still stronger than MAGA power.
All Out for the No Kings Demo on Oct. 18th.
I’m pushing everyone I know to bring two who have never been to any demo before—young, old or in between.
I’m afraid that the (marches)show of concern is too much a show. It does feel good to be with like minded people and read their colorful clever posters.
I will be there but believe we need to continue to act locally…very locally…caring for those right next door, our aging families and friends. We will need to work more on adapting to what looks like a very tough economy.
At least with a local involvement we can see and feel we matter.
This is my personal approach.