Staff Reports
This week, former White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk sat down with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation and delivered a blunt message: cutting off U.S. security assistance to Israel would not have ended the Gaza war — it would have made things worse. That on‑the‑record, insider account deserves to quiet the virtue‑signaling calls to “stop the aid” and refocus the debate on real strategy, not political theater.
McGurk’s insider account: listen to the person who was there
McGurk is not a random pundit. As the former White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, he was inside the room during the critical May 2024 talks he describes. He told Brennan the administration “hit the brakes” on some high‑end munitions deliveries, but did not order an across‑the‑board cutoff. Most important was his bottom line: “If you just stop American support for Israel, that is not going to end the crisis, it’s going to make it worse.” That is a simple sentence with big consequences.
How cutting aid would have backfired
McGurk lays out why. He says the U.S. had a detailed, three‑phase ceasefire and hostage plan on the table that Israel accepted and that the White House pushed publicly. But Iran and Hezbollah stepped in, launching a massive missile and drone campaign that constrained what Washington could safely do. Hamas stalled and kept stringing talks out. In plain terms: removing U.S. aid would not have forced Hamas to accept a deal — it would have handed leverage to Iran and its proxies and left Israel more exposed to attacks.
Political posturing vs. real leverage
Meanwhile, some in Washington cheered calls to cut support as if scoring points on cable news would bring hostages home. Laws like the Leahy provision and State Department reviews of civilian‑harm mitigation are valid checks. But broad, headline‑driven cutoffs are not the same as targeted, strategic pressure. McGurk warns that stopping support as a political stunt would have rewarded Hamas’s backers and degraded America’s ability to shape outcomes — exactly the opposite of what serious policy should do.
Bottom line: back Israel, pressure Hamas and Iran
McGurk’s Face the Nation interview is a reminder that foreign policy needs adults in the room. If the goal is to end warfare, free hostages, and reduce civilian suffering, the U.S. should use its leverage smartly — not for virtue signaling. That means standing with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when needed, keeping defense cooperation reliable, and squeezing Hamas’s enablers, including Iran. Anything less is playing with fire while pretending to be brave.
