NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight’s 7 p.m. ET show. Subscribe to War Notes here.  

What Foreign Policy Disaster is Next? 

Bad things come in threes, and President Biden’s effective arms embargo against Israel makes the trifecta of foreign policy disasters in as many years:  Afghanistan first, then Russia/Ukraine, now Israel. 

Hitting the Nail: Congressman Michael Waltz, R-Fla., a few days ago questioning Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin: 

WALTZ: Can you confidently say the world is safer after three years under Joe Biden?

AUSTIN: Yes, I can.

WALTZ: Where?

Austin follows up by offering “Europe.” The Biden administration wants credit for badly handling a crisis their actions created. 

Worst of All Worlds: Biden’s withholding of precision bombs and artillery shells likely won’t affect Israeli military decisions. 

• It sends a HORRIBLE message to our enemies and allies around the world. 
• It puts us farther from a hostage deal to bring the Israelis and Americans held in Gaza home.
• Within hours of Biden’s announcement, the negotiators all left Cairo. 
• It forces Israel to become more, not less, aggressive.
• It emboldens Iran and Hezbollah, thus making the Middle East more, not less, dangerous.
• It won’t solve Biden’s domestic political problem(s). 

Watch: Last night, John Bolton called it a “Trumpian” move by Biden, as in a foreign policy decision made solely based on Biden’s personal domestic political considerations. 

The Prophet: Former Defense Secretary Bob Gates speaking about Biden’s then-40-year track record on foreign policy: “He has been wrong on nearly every major issue.” 

Fifty years later, Mr. Biden is now, for the first time, in charge of American foreign policy, and the results are undeniably disastrous. 

“We Will Stand Alone and Win”: Benjamin Netanyahu was defiant in a speech on social media today, saying, “If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone and win.”  

Look Back: Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1982 to then-Senator Joe Biden when Biden threatened to cut aid: “Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. Nobody came to our aid when we were striving to create our country. We paid for it. We fought for it. We died for it. We will stand by our principles. We will defend them. And, when necessary, we will die for them again, with or without your aid.” 

Biden in 2010: Years ago, Biden gave speeches stating what War Notes has argued since October 7: “Progress occurs in the Middle East when everyone knows there’s simply no space between the United States and Israel.” 

Biden in 2014: “The security of Israel and the United States is inextricably tied, and we will never, ever abandon Israel out of our own self-interest.” 

Thought Bubble: Wow, Biden sounds a lot different than a decade ago. The only thing that changed was the domestic political situation.  

Look Forward: What foreign policy disaster is next? 

Bonus Reading: Our buddy Erick Erickson has the best compilation of reactions to the Israel news in his must-read “Show Notes” newsletter. 

Political Reality: Hamas enthusiast and Intercept journalist Ryan Grim said it best: “The irony is that Biden, after losing the support of everyone who opposed what Israel has been doing, will now lose the support of everyone who loves what Israel is doing. And all the while he facilitated a slaughter of historic proportions. For what?”

Point of Fact: The deaths in Gaza, while tragic, are a historically low ratio of civilian deaths in an urban war. 

Bottom Line: Grim isn’t wrong. 

Must Read: John Podhoretz, who long supported Biden, calls the decision a “shameful betrayal.” 

Follow the Money: Barak Ravid delivers a devastating scoop with an email from megadonor Haim Saban: “Let’s not forget there are more Jewish voters who care about Israel than Muslim voters who care about Hamas.”

Carjacked on Campaign Trail 

D.C. Council candidate Paul Johnson joins us tonight to discuss getting his car stolen while running for office in the crime-ridden city. 

No Surprise: Eric Flack reports on a kid arrested and then released after firing an AR-15 26 times on the street. 

Thought Bubble: Wouldn’t it be easier to stop gun crime if we enforced the laws we already have? I thought AR-15s are bad?

We’ll talk with Paul about how his personal experience changes his views on the exploding crime rate in D.C.  

Bias Alert: My fiance and I live in D.C. with our dog, Dutch — the city is downright scary. 

Bird Flu is Coming 

The worst part of the COVID-19 pandemic is still coming — that is the extreme distrust in the CDC and NIH when the next pandemic hits. 

(siren) We Are Already Here: Bloomberg delivers a scary commentary on bird flu’s rapid spread not only through dairy cows but to other mammals. 

Look Back: Since “On Balance” began three years ago, we’ve asked over and over for a blue-ribbon commission, like in the aftermath of 9/11, the Kennedy assassination or Pearl Harbor, to honestly examine basic questions:

• What went right/wrong? 
• Who told the truth/who didn’t? 
• How did “science” keep changing but so many demanded adherence to things that ended up demonstrably untrue? 

  All of those answers would be very helpful right now. 

Celebrity Apprentice VP Edition 

Rupert Murdoch clearly loves Gov. Glenn Youngkin, R-Va. — he’s now reportedly pushing for him as VP after Youngkin failed to catch fire for a Murdoch-sponsored presidential run.  

Here is the Mediaite write-up — our own reporting picked up some “Draft Youngkin” whispers as well.  

The Master: Karl Rove with a must-read “How Trump Should Choose a Vice President.” 

Intrigue: Rove works for Murdoch, yet his piece doesn’t include Youngkin’s name. 

Life on the Shortlist: Former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker joins us with what it’s like going through the VP process and if it playing out so publicly helps or hurts.  

Stormy Part 2 

Ask five lawyers, and you will get seven opinions on Team Trump’s cross-examination of Stormy Daniels. 

Slut-Shaming: One CNN panel unsurprisingly pontificated that “slut-shaming” a porn star wouldn’t play well with the jury. 

Zoom out: None of them were in the courtroom, so we will talk to one reporter who actually was and a former Manhattan prosecutor on the strategy for both sides.  

Point of Law: Day 14 of the trial and we still haven’t heard a scintilla of evidence about the “crime” Trump allegedly orchestrated of falsifying business records in the private company he controls. 

Big Picture: A certain percentage of the population thinks Trump should be in jail because he wakes up in the morning. Aside from them, does anyone really care how he accounted for a payment to his lawyer, who in turn paid a woman he allegedly had sex with? 
Personal Privilege: Let me publicly apologize to my mother, who never misses a newsletter or show and is now subjected to her son talking about a former president’s sex life with a porn star.

Tune into “On Balance with Leland Vittert” weeknights at 7/6C on NewsNation. Find your channel here. 

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.