LARRY KUDLOW: The Axis of Evil always exploits American appeasement

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying his best to teach Joe Biden and Kamala Harris why appeasement never works and that’s the subject of the riff. Last Friday, Prime Minister Netanyahu blasted the U.N. as a “swamp of anti-Semitic bile” and “a contemptuous farce” and then he promptly ordered IDF forces to bomb Hezbollah’s headquarters, in a move that took out longtime Hezbollah killer Hassan Nasrallah, as well as other terrorist commandos.  

Today, Israel has launched raids into southern Lebanon to clean out Hezbollah, and perhaps allow 60,000 displaced Israelis to return to their homes in the north.  It shows how actions speak louder than words, although words can be a warning, but effective actions constitute deterrence. Mere words, like “de-escalation” and “ceasefire” almost always make the situation worse.  

Joe Biden commendably called Nasrallah’s death a measure of justice, but then he relapsed into yet another call for some kind of negotiated ceasefire, believe it or not, using the anti-Semitic U.N. as a vehicle. 

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Israel is trying to teach a deterrence lesson to Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris, as the Wall Street Journal editorial today so aptly writes. Unfortunately, they’re not listening judging by this exchange today:  

REPORTER: “Israel may be now launching a limited operation into Lebanon. Are you aware of that? Are you comfortable with their plans?” BIDEN: “I’m more aware than you might know, and I’m comfortable with them stopping. We should have a ceasefire now.” 

There he goes again. “We should have a ceasefire now.” There he goes again: “We should not have a cease-fire now.” Let Israel handle it. Stop putting the cuffs on Israel. 

Actually, watch how effective Israeli counter-terrorist and military operations have been.  Recall the pagers and the walkie talkies. Recall the use of bunker busters. Recall that neither Hezbollah nor Hamas can ever be trusted when it comes to cease-fires or hostage negotiations. Never and consider the impact on Iran.  

Hamas is evil. Hezbollah is evil, but Iran is the mother of all evil. Recall that Donald Trump took out the Iranian terrorist commando Soleimani and the ISIS commander Al Baghdadi and Trump’s classic phrase “we have your cell phone number and your home address” — allegedly said to the Taliban mullahs in Afghanistan.  

Rest assured that Israel has the cellphone number and the home address of the top Iranian ayatollahs — and will not hesitate to act, if conditions warrant. Let me repeat the simple idea that appeasement always fails and the Biden-Harris lexicon equals appeasement. It has failed everywhere. That is why the world is on fire right now — from Afghanistan to Ukraine to the Middle East.  

Appeasing Iran by loosening the oil sanctions gave them the resources to finance the Israeli wars. That also, of course, was appeasement and look where it’s gotten us.  Our enemies in Russia, China, Iran and North Korea — the so-called axis of evil — always exploit American appeasement.  In the corridors of power in Washington DC, the phrase “peace through strength” is frequently tossed around. Right now, we have neither peace, nor strength.  

Fortunately, in the corridors of power between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, we have brave freedom fighters, who are trying to teach a lesson to the U.S.  

This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow’s opening commentary on the Sept. 30, 2024, edition of “Kudlow.”