Trump Goes to War to Protect Israel

One of the main reasons that MAGA posters in the DCUM Political Discussion forum gave for supporting cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump was that former President Joe Biden had started multiple wars and that Trump would not only end those wars, but not start any new ones. Trump, according to these posters, would put America first and not spend American blood and money on foreign military adventures. This was always a strange way of thinking because Biden didn't actually start any wars. To the contrary, it was Biden who withdrew U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Ironically, this was an endless source of criticism of Biden from the allegedly peace-loving MAGAs. Nevertheless, while MAGAs may have voted for an isolationist president who would keep our troops at home, the president that they actually got has proven to be almost the exact opposite. Since his inauguration, Trump has threatened military aggression against Canada, Greenland, and Panama. He has even proposed that U.S. forces take over Gaza and expel its Palestinian population. Now, Trump has launched an unauthorized and illegal war against Yemen. Moreover, far from this being an "America first" policy, Trump has put Israel's interests first and is putting members of the U.S. military at risk in defense of the genocidal policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

For many Americans, the history of the Middle East began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas invaded Israel. We can mark the start of Trump's road to war with Yemen from roughly the same time period. In the months prior to October 7, Netanyahu's primary concern was staying out of jail. Prior to the election that made him Prime Minister, Netanyahu had been indicted on corruption charges. As Prime Minister, he hoped to eviscerate Israel's justice system and protect himself from the legal consequences he was facing. This goal, however, depended on maintaining a governing coalition that included several extremist ministers, including two literal terrorists. As a concession to the extremists, Netanyahu concentrated Israel's military forces in the occupied territories of the West Bank and generally ignored Gaza, about which the extremists mostly didn't care. Hamas took advantage of this vacuum to launch its attack. In response, Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza, which has since destroyed as much as 90% of the buildings in Gaza and essentially displaced its entire population. Estimates suggest that as many as 100,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed. To support the Palestinians, the group Ansar Allah, commonly known as the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, began attacking shipping in the Red Sea. This had the impact of drastically reducing traffic through the Suez Canal and turned the Israeli port of Eilat into a virtual ghost town. The Houthis said that their attacks would end when a ceasefire in Gaza prevailed, and indeed, after Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, was able to negotiate a ceasefire, the Houthis stopped their attacks.

Witkoff's plan for Gaza had multiple stages. Phase 1 was the initial ceasefire and included a limited exchange of captives. Phase 2 would see more exchanges and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Almost from the minute he agreed to the plan, Netanyahu began promising his coalition partners that Israel would never enter into Phase 2. In contrast, Witkoff repeatedly offered assurances that there would be a Phase 2 and took a number of actions to prod Israel to adhere to the agreement. In a demonstration of U.S. willingness to act independently of Israel, Trump's hostage envoy, Adam Boehler, began direct talks with Hamas and appeared to have reached an agreement for the release of a captive being held by Hamas who held U.S. citizenship. However, after considerable pressure from Israel and its supporters, Witkoff rejected this arrangement. Netanyahu took other actions to scuttle Phase 2, including placing a total blockade of food and other humanitarian goods on Gaza. Israel also cut the supply of electricity, which caused Gaza's desalination plants to stop working. Left without food or water, Gaza's population faces a horrendous humanitarian crisis. The Houthis responded by restarting their attacks on Red Sea shipping, saying they would stop firing when food and water were again allowed to reach the people of Gaza.

Many Americans may not know that Netanyahu spends two days of most weeks in court facing corruption charges. He mostly seems to spend that time yelling at the judge and demanding to have his time in court reduced, if not eliminated. One of the two terrorists in Netanyahu's cabinet has been boycotting sessions, and Netanyahu is desperate to convince him to return. Israel faces another political crisis because Netanyahu is threatening to fire the head of the Shin Bet intelligence agency and Israel's Attorney General. Netanyahu is prevented by law from taking either of these steps, but that doesn't seem to be stopping him. Shin Bet has been investigating Netanyahu staff members due to allegations that they have been on the payroll of Qatar and that one of them leaked a doctored intelligence report. In the midst of all of this, Netanyahu can hardly afford to proceed to phase 2 of the Gaza plan. Hence the embargo and increased Israeli attacks on Gaza. Any further concessions would certainly lead to the collapse of his government, and the entire house of cards that Netanyahu has built would come tumbling down.

The logical step for Trump would be to continue pressure on Israel to move to phase 2. This would require accepting the likely collapse of Netanyahu's government and the possibility of elections in Israel, which would probably also delay further steps towards peace. But it would serve U.S. interests and address the fact that Netanyahu has been a constant obstacle to U.S. plans. Assuming that the delivery of food, electricity, and water were resumed, the Houthi attacks would also stop. Instead, Trump and Witkoff have stepped back from their previous position and now appear to condone Netanyahu's refusal to move to phase 2. Previously, Boehler claimed that the U.S. is "not an agent of Israel". Now, it appears that the Trump administration is rethinking that position. On Saturday, Trump launched a series of airstrikes against Yemen, killing at least 53 Yemenis. Trump, threatened on Truth Social that if the Houthi attacks did not stop, "HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE!" U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told Fox News that "By the way, to the Houthis: this isn’t a one-night thing. This will continue until you say, 'We’re done shooting at ships.'" In response to the U.S. attack, the Houthis said that their attacks, which previously had been limited to ships connected to Israel, would now expand to U.S. shipping. The Houthis then fired 18 ballistic and cruise missiles, plus one drone, at the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier and its escorts. Both Trump and Hegseth suggested that the attack on Yemen was also meant to be a warning to Iran, who is believed to be supplying the Houthis. The obvious danger in this situation is that an initial tit-for-tat exchange of attacks gets out of control.

Needless to say, Congress has not authorized a war against Yemen and, therefore, Trump's actions are illegal. Whether anyone will care is another question. A few conservative Republicans have spoken up, but sadly the most prominent members of both parties seem to love bombing the citizens of other countries. Trump will likely face very little domestic opposition, at least in the short term. But Trump has now gotten us into a shooting war, one in which U.S. forces are in harm’s way. All because Netanyahu is afraid of being convicted and going to jail. Understandably, that is probably a sentiment with which Trump can relate.