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CIA director personally visits Israel amid war with Hamas

November 6, 2023 | | Print Article

The director of the CIA was sent on a “rare” personal mission to visit Israel as a show of strength after the invasion by Hamas terrorists on October 7th.

(Video Credit: WION)

The visit appears to be an attempt to push Israel to take a more targeted approach in its war against Hamas. The US evidently wants pauses in the conflict so aid can be shuttled into Gaza and so some sort of strategy can be deployed to avoid civilian casualties. It is a ploy that is unlikely to be welcomed by the Israelis.

The New York Times is reporting that CIA Director William J Burns is following in Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s footsteps, traveling to Israel and other nations to try and slow things down militarily. Burns arrived in Israel on Sunday to speak with leaders and intelligence officials. It is the first stop of a multi-country tour.

Following the outbreak of war in the Middle East, the Biden administration and its agencies started seeking to expand intelligence sharing with Israel. They are interested in information concerning the hostages and ongoing attacks by Hamas. Burns is meant to be the face of intelligence cooperation in the region, according to a US official briefed on Burns’ trip.

On the one hand, the Biden administration has appeared to support Israel, but they have also been attempting to straddle the fence and support humanitarian aid in Gaza. The political dance started immediately after Hamas slaughtered 1,400 people and kidnapped over 200 on October 7 in Israel.

Since that time, Israel has declared war and has vowed to root out every Hamas terrorist responsible for the atrocities by way of a massive counteroffensive that includes an air campaign and a ground invasion of Gaza.

According to Gaza’s health ministry and the New York Times, over 9,000 Palestinians have been killed in airstrikes by Israel since the attack took place.

“Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived on Friday to make the case to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and key national security officials that there are ‘more effective ways’ to cripple Hamas than the intense air campaign,” NDTV World reported.

“Burns, who has extensive experience in the region, visited as key intelligence leaders in Israel have been heavily criticized for failing to detect the attack and the threat from Hamas more broadly,” the news outlet continued.

The New York Times referred to Burns as being one of the Biden administration’s “most trusted voices” on Middle East issues. He’s being called a “roving troubleshooting diplomat” for the White House.

The Biden officials claim they are not telling Israel what to do. But they are recounting the US’ experiences in the Iraq war and emphasizing that Israel should not make the same mistakes that America made after 9/11 according to The New York Times.

Burns is expected to also visit Jordan and try to mend fences there. King Abdullah II nixed a meeting with President Biden after a Gaza hospital was hit by a misfired rocket resulting in casualties. It turns out that the rocket was fired by Islamic militants, not Israel according to authorities.

The CIA director has a close relationship with King Abdullah. He was the ambassador to Jordan when King Hussein died and Abdullah ascended to the throne and the king has praised Burns’ diplomatic skills.

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