Weapons delay won't stop Israel

After millennia of persecution culminating in the most horrific and methodical murder scheme of all time, the Jews stopped waiting and formed a small but mighty country in which to participate in the world on an equal footing. After numerous wars and territory give-backs, the horrendous Oct. 7 attacks gave Israel the go-ahead to rid their border of their avowed, intractable enemy, once and for all or at least for the next generation.

After legislation finally passed the United States Congress, President Joe Biden has suddenly held up the last delivery  of weapons, in an attempt to thwart Israel’s attempt to beat back the  terrorists in their last stronghold, retrieve their hostages, and destroy the underground  tunnels where the adversaries of life and freedom hide. For Israelis and their national cause, it is again a waiting game.

Rose Berliner, Boynton Beach

Do it right on Donald Ross bridge

Great to see that somebody tried to fix the bridge on Donald Ross eastbound, but it's not such a great job, as I go through there every day. I see that the eastbound bridge goes down 50% slower than the westbound bridge, which causes more delays on the road. If you want it done fast and cheap, it never comes out good.

Ed Bowers, Palm Beach Gardens

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Trump successfully running out the clock

It appears that the perpetrator of the crimes of the century is going to go scot free in the name of being innocent until proven guilty. How could this happen? It seems that our legal system is paralyzed in that no United States president in our history has ever been impeached twice and then indicted on several crimes. Donald Trump flies around the country while many of those who facilitated his crimes sit in jails or courtrooms. Beginning with the Mueller Report cover up, to the lost legal challenges concerning the election to the House investigation and now seemingly endless technical delays, Trump will run out the clock, leaving only the 2024 election to stop him.

David Clendining, Loxahatchee

Courts are rigged, favoring Trump

The latest headline in the un-televised Donald Trump false records trial to conceal information from the voters is that a further contempt charge may result with a few hours isolation in a back courtroom. I wonder how many participants get those type of kid gloves? The U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Aileen Cannon also do not televise proceedings, which prevents the public from seeing Trump's "kid gloves." It would appear that these gloves also prevent courts from writing opinions. Maybe this is the Trump version of a handout for the privileged few.

William Damato, Boynton Beach

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US officials doubt Israel can actually eradicate Hamas and achieve a 'total victory'

• US officials have expressed doubt over Israel's ability to completely eliminate Hamas.

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains firm on the goal to defeat Hamas.

• President Biden has threatened to cut off weapon shipments if Israel assaults Rafah.

US government officials are skeptical Israel can actually achieve its goals and completely eliminate Hamas in Gaza.

"Sometimes when we listen closely to Israeli leaders, they talk about mostly the idea of some sort of sweeping victory on the battlefield, total victory," Deputy US Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told CNN at the NATO Youth Summit. "I don't think we believe that that is likely or possible."

When TV personality Phil McGraw, also known as Dr. Phil, asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an interview on May 9 whether Israel still plans on eliminating Hamas as its goal in the Israel-Hamas war, Netanyahu confirmed that this plan hasn't changed. He argued that "we have to achieve victory and that means that we have to destroy all these battalions, which we will."

Netanyahu has been adamant that in order to meet this goal and win the war, Israeli forces must assault Rafah, a densely populated city in southern Gaza where about one million Palestinian refugees have fled.

The US has provided Israel with support throughout its war, but President Joe Biden has warned that he would cut off weapon shipments to Israel if it moves forward with an attack on the city.

"Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers," Biden told CNN last week. "I made it clear that if they go into Rafah, I'm not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, to deal with that problem."

There is currently a Republican-led effort in Congress to force the provision of weapons shipments, but the White House is in firm opposition.

The current US view of what victory looks like in this war appears different than that of Israel. Other members of the Biden administration have weighed in on Israel's progress and plan to defeat Hamas.

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"We're seeing parts of Gaza that Israel has cleared of Hamas where Hamas is coming back including in the north, including in Khan Younis," US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in an interview with CBS's Margaret Brennan on Sunday.

If the Israelis hit Rafah with a tough offensive, he predicts that "they may go in and have some initial success, but potentially at an incredibly high cost to civilians." And any success they have, he said will likely be "one that is not durable, one that is not sustainable."

"And they will be left holding the bag on an enduring insurgency because a lot of armed Hamas will be left no matter what they do in Rafah," Blinken said. The alternative isn't much better though.

"If they leave and get out of Gaza, as we believe they need to do, then you're going to have a vacuum, and a vacuum that's likely to be filled by chaos, by anarchy, and ultimately by Hamas again," he said.

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National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Monday that ultimately, Israel will make its own decisions on strategy and how it will end the war.

"With the question of a strategic endgame, I don't think that's really a question about American influence," he said. "That's a question about Israel's strategy and what Israel chooses to do."