AMAC Exclusive – By Andrew Shirley
Just before Christmas, Hamas ruled out any further hostage releases until Israel agrees to a “full cessation of aggression,” deepening a crisis that began when the terrorist group seized more than 200 civilians during their initial assault on October 7. Hamas’s unwillingness to negotiate may be due in large part to President Joe Biden’s decision to bribe Iran with $6 billion in frozen funds to release five hostages back in September, setting the precedent that the United States, which Hamas views as Israel’s puppet master, can be bullied into giving Hamas what it wants.
In late November, the two sides brokered a fragile ceasefire that allowed for an exchange of hostages, including the release of several American citizens. However, on December 1, Hamas violated the agreement by launching rockets into southern Israel, touching off another round of hostilities that has since claimed hundreds more lives.
There are currently still at least eight Americans unaccounted for and presumed to be held captive by Hamas. On December 13, Joe Biden held a meeting with the families of these hostages at the White House. In a follow-up post on X, Biden pledged to “continue doing everything possible to secure the release of their family members.”
However, neither Biden nor anyone in his administration has taken any responsibility for the fact that their actions have directly encouraged the hostage-taking practices Hamas is now engaging in.
Less than two months before Hamas began its assault on Israel, the Biden administration announced that it would be releasing five Iranians held in the United States and unfreezing $6 billion in exchange for five Americans held prisoner by Iran. The money, funds from oil sales, was being held in a South Korean bank.
At the time, Biden touted the deal as a major win for his administration. “Today, five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally coming home,” the president said in a statement. The administration also assured the public that the $6 billion in funds could only be used for certain approved purposes like humanitarian aid and the purchase of food or medicine, and that similar deals had been struck by prior administrations.
However, as even liberal MSNBC noted, “What’s different this time is that Biden and his team are making no secret of the link between the funds unblocked for Iran and the freedom of five imprisoned Americans, explicitly acknowledging the trade-off.”
Congressional Republicans were quick to slam the deal as a blatant capitulation to a terrorist regime. In a post on X, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) stated, “I am always glad when Americans are released from captivity… However, this agreement will entice rogue regimes, like Iran, to take even more Americans hostage. The ayatollah and his henchmen are terrorists and truly represent a terrorist state.”
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), the chair of the House Republican Conference, likewise said on X that Biden’s policies are “emboldening our adversaries while putting Americans’ safety and security at risk.” Senator John Thune (R-SD) added that because of Biden’s actions, “the price to release U.S. hostages will only go up.”
Former President Donald Trump also pointed out how ludicrous the deal was in a post on Truth Social. “So, let’s get this straight! We did a hostage TRADE with Iran. We gave them 5 very tough, smart people that they desperately wanted. We likewise got back 5 people BUT, we also gave them 6 BILLION DOLLARS!” Trump wrote, further calling the deal a “terrible precedent.”
The Biden administration was quick to respond and insist that the $6 billion could only be used for approved purposes – despite the fact that Iran has repeatedly skirted such requirements in the past to fund their terrorist proxy networks like Hamas. As The Wall Street Journal reported last month, Iran had been funneling huge sums of money to Hamas in the months leading up to October’s attack.
House Republicans also took action just after Thanksgiving by passing a measure that would block Iran from ever accessing the $6 billion – a bill that 90 Democrats voted for as well.
In remarks on the House floor, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) declared, “$6 billion for Iran is $6 billion for Hamas,” going on to say, “the idea that you would be negotiating in August or September to help Iran get $6 billion boggles the mind, prior to the invasion and attacks on Israel. After the attacks, the administration should be joining us in supporting this bill.” Notably, the White House has not supported the bill, nor has the Senate offered any indication that they plan to bring it forward for a vote.
Republican warnings have proved prescient as Hamas now refuses to engage in any further negotiations with either Israel or the United States over the release of hostages. Given that many of the hostages Hamas has released have shown signs of torture and sexual abuse, there is no telling what horrors the Americans still held captive inside Gaza are facing.
Biden’s ham-fisted approach to hostage negotiations with Iran unwittingly told the world how much each U.S. citizen is worth. Now, Hamas is following Tehran’s lead, and Americans as well as our Israeli allies are suffering.
Andrew Shirley is a veteran speechwriter and AMAC Newsline columnist. His commentary can be found on X at @AA_Shirley.
Hamas certainly doesn’t fear the United States under Joe Biden or Anothony Blinken, because they have seen ample displays of how this administration reacts under any degree of pressure or conflict. Hamas leadership in Qatar is likely just waiting for Blinken to come groveling before them. Begging for them to set the terms for any hostage release. It’s how they “negotiate”. Then Hamas leadership will set the dollar amount each American hostage will cost to be freed. Expect it be billions per individual, which Team Biden will gladly fly over in as many jets as necessary. When you negotiate from a position of weakness, which the Biden administration and Democrats in general over the last 50 years have done, you have to be expected to be taken to the cleaners each and every time. This of course was all completely avoidable.
Like him or not, at least Donald Trump knows a bad deal when he sees it. The other thing for me is that Biden is merely the figurehead for those who are really running the country.
His every word and deed remind us of Jonathan Gruber’s comments about how Obamacare got passed, “Americans are stupid.” Enough to elect him and his crew, anyway.
Appeasement never works especially when you are forced to deal for hostages. If any country holds US citizens hostage then we no longer give them any financial aid. As long as Hamas exists the US should not give any financial aid to the Palestinians.
Nothing this Jackass does surprises me anymore!
Biden is dumb as a sack of rocks and always has been.
it is more like 10 billion dollars Sleepy Joe gave them plus the money Obama gave them. The democrats subscribe to the Neville Chamberlain school of appeasement for international negotiations. If you don’t know who he is, look him up . . . he was an Adolf Hitler enabler. We all know how well that worked out for the world
One has to wonder whether the Biden Puppet Masters are just dumb, exceedingly naive or evilly intent upon turning the world order upside down and making the US into a third world state.
Bottom line: what Biden did by sending 6 billion to a historically known terrorist nation should fall under the heading of High Treason…his dealings and his son’s dealings with Red China should also be more than highly suspect…and the fact he’s lied over and over about it should also be considered espionage. Inflation is deliberate. His obliterating our border; another act of sabotage…how much more damage, no doubt being “suggested” by his former “president” is going to be allowed before this nation is completely destroyed? Biden and Barack Hussein Obama are literally dismantling this nation. The republicans with precious few exceptions are going along fat, dumb and happy and the democrats are flagrantly aiding the downfall of the only Constitutional Republic in history. Those who know what this country was founded on by men who risked their Lives, Families and Honors should be at least writing, calling, e-mailing and getting in their faces.
Will you get on a list? Yeah, I know it all too well. My sheriff informed me about 25 years ago I was on the CBI’s list as an enemy of the state…for calling, mailing and sending letters! Velcome to za People’s Republic of Amerika. Does America have the hutzpah and backbone of our WW1 and WW2 men? Or our guys who went to Viet Nam and came back to America to face the likes of the traitor Jane Fonda who partied with the Viet Cong just a few feet from where our soldiers were being starved and brutalized? And John Kerry who threw bags of cat feces at them?
Is there any real personal fight left in America? Or shall we just lie down and concede?
Sorry if I’ve angered folks…but my Uncle fought in WW2, My brother in Korea and Viet Nam, lost classmates and a friend in Viet Nam…I’m 78, I’m tired … is there anyone left to fight? Please forgive my rant…I’m running out of tears.
Ole Joe’s alliance lies with Iran. We are talking 6 billion dollars, some of that will return in one of many of ole Joe and his family accounts. Ukraine billions of dollars have not been accounted for, ole Joe ordered it that way nobody knows where it went but we have to send them some more. The precedent set with Iran will be done over and over again. Easiest way for some backwater country to kidnap some prominent Americans and hold them for ransom. Ole Joe will pay. He has no backbone to stand up to any of our enemies. He thinks money will solve all problems. The mindset in the White House has to go. He is selling America one billion at a time.
This resident in the White House is responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide because of his weak policies. Our enemies, and our allies that counted on the United States’ military and economic power to project fear of retaliation for any country that violated common sense decent standards, are emboldened to push their policies for communism and dictatorship over the people. And the democrats and MSM support him! Wake up America, he still has eleven more months to “succeed”! He needs to be impeached and stopped in his tracks now for the treason of the invasion on our southern border, and allowing our enemies to not be held accountable, in addition to all the corrupt payoff by countries whose money the Biden crime family has received!
Yank thank $6 billion back and then reinstate all the sanctions Trump put on Iran that President “Let’s Go Brandon” removed!
This is what democrats do. Instead of doing all they can to win, democrats just try not to lose. Partially of their own ineptitude, partially as slaves to their masters, partially as part of their appeasement ideology. When it comes to the integrity and sovereign of a nation, the democrats are as worthless as a wart on a lizard’s backside.
You are right on point. The Biden administration has truly been a detriment to any progress in the Israel – Hamas war. How do you unfreeze 6 billion dollars to a known enemy of the US to spend on helping kill our fighting men and women, attacking Israel, and arming Hamas and other radical groups across the region? We don’t stop Iran from selling oil to China or Russia – our enemies. This administration is anti-American in all possible ways including their open-border policies. Shameful!
Sounds a lot like the $6Billion+ was the reason all along for the Oct 7 attack and seizing of hostages, esp. since it was likely financed and supplied by Iran.
Free lesson on how to destroy oneself in a few easy lessons…
Short, sweet, & simple: FJB.
Funny huh?? We are paying iran to arm hamas to kill Jewish civilians and then helping Israel to destroy hamas. The democrats are siding with hamas terrorists while the hamas demonstrators destroy our cities and Christmas??
The only way to stop this travesty is for Palestinians living in Gaza to put bullets, knives and bombs into any member of Hamas. No one talks about this. The people of Gaza are not victims. They are, like Iranians and Afgans, cowards who will not fight to save their nations. They are unlike Syrians and Ukrainians who will fight to the death to save their nations. Its that simple. US money cannot turn these cowards into defenders.
Lets don’t overcomplicate this. The Palestinians have allowed themselves to be led around by their noses for years and they now see the result of their cowardice. Its very likely that they will continue to do nothing. “Peace-Lovers” are irrelevant here.
Nikki Haley would never work this way.
We all need to be honest. Biden is a pathetic loser, a dementia patient who was installed by Bathhouse Barry and his fellow communists. He doesn’t know where he is, nor have any idea of the consequences of the actions being forced on America, and the world, in his name. It is those around him, the incompetent bunch of communists and fools who are making every decision, and enforcing same, and putting it all forth as though it was coming straight from the dementia patient. There isn’t anyone to blame. Biden is the dementia addled fall-guy, who can’t be faulted, he’s just a potato.
What a Joke. Biden gave them the money in preference to defending Israel
Why doesn’t the US send in a Team of Seals and take back what is ours … talk is cheap and no one is listen to the Administrations rhetoric, I am sure after any discussions our officials have the other side goes away laughing! Someone needs to be in the White House that is not afraid of pissing off the other side!
Biden is dumber than a ….. he is going to start world war 3.
Oh nice job, Joe! Giving Iran $6 billion, and many more billions in sanctions relief, has worked out oh so great, hasn’t it? And even now, after Iran has directed over 100 attacks on Americans, Biden treats Iran like Neville Chamberlin treated Nazi Germany – appeasement mixed with fear. Come on Joe, man up.
Any number of American hostages gives the U.S. the right to commit military action against Hamas. Will there be collateral damage? Of courser there will. Hamas is counting on it Hamas and other terrorist organizations do everything they can to insure there will be collateral damage to deter any actions be taken against them. This is one reason they are terrorists and not combatants.
You must be talking about Biden and the US Rat Party’s Attack Israel funding.