The conflict unfolding thousands of miles away in Israel and Gaza has
its roots in decades of complex strife between Jews and Arabs over
land. But to hear the way it�s being described in American conservative
media, much of the fault and responsibility lies with one man:
President Biden.

The operational failures that allowed Hamas to plan and execute the
attack without warning? American intelligence, not just Israeli
intelligence, dropped the ball, conservative critics said over the past
week.

The money Hamas raised to pull off such an organized, multipronged
military operation? The Biden administration�s loosening of financial
sanctions allowed Iran to funnel money to Hamas, its longtime
beneficiary, they insisted.

And in the rare situation when conservative pundits found something
they liked about Mr. Biden�s response � many acknowledged they were
pleased to hear him denounce the deadly Hamas incursion as �pure,
unadulterated evil� � the compliments quickly became condemnation.

�President Joe Biden solemnly declared today that he stands with Israel
against the terrorists. Great,� the conservative economist Stephen
Moore wrote on HotAir.com. �But his actions in the White House have
facilitated these homicidal attacks by financing our enemies.�

On Fox News�s late afternoon talk show, �The Five,� the topic quickly
turned to what Mr. Biden didn�t say.

�Missing from Biden�s speech was Iran,� said one of the co-hosts,
Jeanine Pirro, criticizing the president for not mentioning the role
that Iran played in the attack last weekend � even though that role is
unclear.

Ms. Pirro went on to list other complaints, including that Mr. Biden
had not demanded the swift return of American hostages held by Hamas
nor warned, she said, �that not a hair on the body of any American be
touched going forward.�

The story of the war between Hamas and Israel as it�s being told in
conservative media is one in which one particular policy move by the
Biden administration looms large. Much of the coverage from the right
has focused on the decision to transfer $6 billion to Iran as part of a
deal that led to the release of five imprisoned Americans from the
country last month.

The $6 billion is not U.S. taxpayer money, as former President Donald
J. Trump and other Republicans have falsely stated. Nor is there
evidence that the money, which officials have said is subject to
Treasury Department oversight, was used to finance the attacks. In
fact, the Biden administration has said that Iran has not had access to
those funds, which Iran was only supposed to use for humanitarian
purposes.

But conservative critics argued that those restrictions were
meaningless because money in government accounts is easily moved around
and that Tehran could have freed up money elsewhere to give to Hamas.

�This is what happens when you appease and sell out to the enemy,� Mark
Levin, the radio host, said on his program. �Joe Biden rearmed the
Hamas, Hezbollah, Nazi terrorist groups. Joe Biden rearmed the
Palestinian terrorists in every way possible.�

The Fox News host Sean Hannity said the $6 billion was �money that we
know will be used to foment terror.�

Barely mentioned in conservative media were the widely condemned
comments from Mr. Trump in which he criticized Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu of Israel and referred to Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant
group, as �very smart.� When Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of
Arkansas, was asked about the remarks on �Fox News Sunday,� he
deflected and criticized Mr. Biden. �What concerns me even more is this
administration�s actions,� Mr. Cotton said.

Republican presidential candidates and elected officials have also
seized on the Hamas attack to lay blame on the president, drawing a
connection to the hostage release deal and the $6 billion payment,
which the United States froze after the attack.

Representative Ryan Zinke, a Montana Republican who was interior
secretary in the Trump administration, gave an interview to Breitbart
in which he accused the Biden administration of being in �intelligence
denial� about Iran.

�Look at Iran. Iran hasn�t changed their behavior,� Mr. Zinke told the
conservative website. �This administration continues to deny that Iran
is the principal driver of terrorism in the region.�

Extensive coverage and airtime on Fox News has been devoted in the past
week to pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses and elsewhere,
where demonstrators who were interviewed professed not to know of or
not to believe stories about the atrocities committed by Hamas
militants last weekend.

One man wearing a scarf that covered his face to conceal his identity
told Fox on Friday that reports of slaughtered Israeli babies were
�obviously propaganda.� (The New York Times and other media outlets
have reported on the killing of children and, in one case, visited a
morgue where the bodies of young children and infants were being kept
in small bags.)

Some conservatives have linked the outbreak of violence in Israel and
Gaza to a broader critique of the left and liberal policies � often
with unfounded claims. With thousands of migrants being stopped at the
southern border every day, some in right-wing media have argued,
without offering any evidence, that agents of Hamas are slipping
through.

Charlie Kirk, the pro-Trump activist who hosts a nationally syndicated
radio show, floated the idea on his program. �It�s possible Hamas has
hundreds or thousands of militants on the interior of the United States
ready to bomb hospitals, blow up schools, or just rain terror.�

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Let's go Brandon!

Biden helps Iran, Iran helps Hamas. Simple really.