Yesterday, Noah Rothman addressed reports that President Biden told Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that “the way Israel operated in northern Gaza, which included a wide assault and three armored and infantry divisions, can’t be repeated in the southern part of the enclave.”

Noah correctly writes that the administration needs to get its priorities straight: Leaving Hamas in power is an unacceptable outcome given that the terrorist organization has no plans to stop its indiscriminate murder of Israeli civilians. Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar recently said the atrocities of October 7 were just a “dress rehearsal” for what’s to come.

Here’s how the Biden administration is handling things:

What does it mean to say that Israel doesn’t “have the credit for that?” Is it not enough that Hamas massacred 1,300 people? Is it not enough that Hamas committed brutal acts of sexual violence against women and girls, killed children, disemboweled a pregnant woman and murdered the baby still attached to her by its umbilical cord, and reportedly executed ten-month-old hostage Kfir Bibas and his four-year-old brother Ariel?

The world is full of moral gray areas. This is not one of them. The Biden administration must allow Israel to eliminate Hamas — but it appears the worm is beginning to turn. I have no doubt that Biden himself believes strongly in Israel’s right and duty to defend its people against a barbaric terrorist threat. But it appears the White House is sufficiently concerned about opposition from the Democratic Party’s left flank to subordinate morality to craven electoral analysis. The United States deserves more out of its leader.