[TrumpCard]

The US should have a short leash with Israel when it comes to military aid. Israel is flattening Gaza right now with indiscriminate bombing. I understand why they are doing that, but there is no way they are appropriately discriminating in their target selection when they are dropping more bombs in a day than we did in a month in Mosul.

Israel is an ally, and its understandable that Biden and US leadership will be pretty unequivocal in their public support. But I hope that behind the scenes they are telling Israel that if they don't respect the laws of war their aid will dry up. All the Palestinians with dead family members and no prospects are going to be the reason this violence continues in the decades ahead, so it really is in Israel's interest to be more selective than they are now (and the IDF are not being subtle in their public statements that they basically view any target in Gaza as legitimate.).

As a practical reality, this is not U.S. policy.  The State Dept just issued a memo instructing staff to refrain from calling for calm or de-escalation:  https://www.huffpost.com/entry/state-dep...04ff6ff95d

As a normative matter, there is little reason for the U.S. to stop providing defensive military aid to Israel since that only saves lives.  The interceptors for the Iron Dome are the most important form of aid Israel receives, and I do not foresee the U.S. withholding that.  The U.S. might threaten to revoke other military aid, but I question whether such threats would be deemed credible given U.S. public opinion and given broad support for Israel in Congress and in the White House.  I also question whether such threats would substantially alter Israeli military policy right now.  

As someone who has family and friends in Israel, I can tell you that the Israeli public overwhelmingly believed that there was no prospect for an end to Palestinian terrorism even before the latest attack.  In other words, exercising restraint merely for the sake of trying to convince the Palestinian government to stop supporting terrorism was already perceived as a futile endeavor.  Nevertheless, prior to the recent attacks, there were mixed views in Israel regarding the ethics and/or prudence of heavy handed military responses.  In light of recent events, however, there is little sentiment in Israel that more restraint is warranted, and I don't think U.S. pressure would alter that sentiment.

Edit: Also, the U.S. has a vital interest that Israel do its best to recover the American citizens whom Hamas is holding hostage and likely torturing.

[TrumpCard]

The US should have a short leash with Israel when it comes to military aid. Israel is flattening Gaza right now with indiscriminate bombing. I understand why they are doing that, but there is no way they are appropriately discriminating in their target selection when they are dropping more bombs in a day than we did in a month in Mosul.

Israel is an ally, and its understandable that Biden and US leadership will be pretty unequivocal in their public support. But I hope that behind the scenes they are telling Israel that if they don't respect the laws of war their aid will dry up. All the Palestinians with dead family members and no prospects are going to be the reason this violence continues in the decades ahead, so it really is in Israel's interest to be more selective than they are now (and the IDF are not being subtle in their public statements that they basically view any target in Gaza as legitimate.).

As a practical reality, this is not U.S. policy.  The State Dept just issued a memo instructing staff to refrain from calling for calm or de-escalation:  https://www.huffpost.com/entry/state-dep...04ff6ff95d

As a normative matter, there is little reason for the U.S. to stop providing defensive military aid to Israel since that only saves lives.  The interceptors for the Iron Dome are the most important form of aid Israel receives, and I do not foresee the U.S. withholding that.  The U.S. might threaten to revoke other military aid, but I question whether such threats would be deemed credible given U.S. public opinion and given broad support for Israel in Congress and in the White House.  I also question whether such threats would substantially alter Israeli military policy right now.  

As someone who has family and friends in Israel, I can tell you that the Israeli public overwhelmingly believed that there was no prospect for an end to Palestinian terrorism even before the latest attack.  In other words, exercising restraint merely for the sake of trying to convince the Palestinian government to stop supporting terrorism was already perceived as a futile endeavor.  Nevertheless, prior to the recent attacks, there were mixed views in Israel regarding the ethics and/or prudence of heavy handed military responses.  In light of recent events, however, there is little sentiment in Israel that more restraint is warranted, and I don't think U.S. pressure would alter that sentiment.

Edit: Also, the U.S. has a vital interest that Israel do its best to recover the American citizens whom Hamas is holding hostage and likely torturing.