While people were busy applauding the good parts of Biden’s speech on the Hamas massacres, they overlooked this section.

“I just got off the phone with — the third call with Prime Minister Netanyahu. And I told him if the United States experienced what Israel is experiencing, our response would be swift, decisive, and overwhelming. We also discussed how democracies like Israel and the United States are stronger and more secure when we act according to the rule of law. Terrorists purpo- — purposefully target civilians, kill them. We uphold the laws of war — the law of war. It matters. There’s a difference.”

And there was a “more balanced tone”, e.g. less pro-Israel, in private.

US President Joe Biden reportedly urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their Tuesday phone call to minimize civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip as Israel continues its massive aerial campaign and readies for a potential ground incursion in response to Hamas’s terror onslaught.

While Biden offered full-throated support for Israel in a public address Tuesday that was overwhelmingly welcomed by Jerusalem, he apparently struck a relatively more balanced tone in his call with Netanyahu.

Biden was more direct than in prior calls that the IDF should work to avoid civilian casualties, NBC reports, citing two US officials

Having previously utilized Secretary of Defense Austin to pressure Israel not to conduct democratic judicial reform, now Biden is using him to lecture Israel on civilian casualties.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart on Saturday, underscoring Washington’s support for Israel’s security and discussing the importance of adhering to the law of war, the Pentagon said.

“During the call, he discussed the importance of adhering to the law of war, including civilian protection obligations, and addressing the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza while Israel continues its operations to restore security,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

Is Biden having these same conversations with Ukraine? I see no sign of that. There appears to be zero mention of it when came to cluster bombs. Now frankly, I don’t care how Ukraine fights its wars, but is there a reason that the Biden administration keeps lecturing Israel, but not Ukraine about how it fights wars?

Russia loosely adheres to some laws of war, Hamas does not. It operates behind civilians, there’s no way to fight it that doesn’t involve civilian casualties.

The question is whose civilian casualties will they be.