Top Biden Adviser Bragged Of Quiet Middle East One Week Before Hamas Attacked Israel

One week before Hamas launched a surprise attack in Israel, a top aide to President Joe Biden touted a relative calm in the Middle East.

“The Middle East region is quieter today than it has been in two decades,” said U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, according to The Atlantic. He went on to stress that “challenges remain,” citing Iran’s nuclear weapons program and “tensions” between Israel and the Palestinians, but added, “the amount of time I have to spend on crisis and conflict in the Middle East today compared to any of my predecessors going back to 9/11 is significantly reduced.”

Sullivan, a former Obama administration official, was speaking at The Atlantic Festival. He had just talked about how the larger region had reached a semblance of peace after the Biden team “walked into” a chaotic situation dating back to the prior administration.

“And what we said is we want to depressurize, deescalate, and ultimately integrate the Middle East region,” Sullivan said, as seen in a video of the remarks. “The war in Yemen is in its 19th month of truce. For now, the Iranian attacks against U.S. forces have stopped. Our presence in Iraq is stable. I emphasize for now because all of that can change.”

In the 24 hours since Hamas began its attack on Saturday and Israeli Defense Forces struck back, officials have estimated hundreds of people have died and thousands are wounded in Israel and Gaza. Israel has declared a “state of war” while Hamas has called for broader “Islamic resistance.”

With the conflict escalating, clips of Sullivan’s comments gained traction on social media, leading to a torrent of criticism of him and the Biden administration that included references to controversies stemming from the deadly Benghazi embassy attack in 2012 and the 2016 presidential election.

Biden National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan (last week): "The Middle East region is quieter today than it has been in two decades" pic.twitter.com/59MYUXhmHf

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 7, 2023

“Jake Sullivan, the former Clinton aide who participated [in both the] Benghazi and Russia hoaxes, is one of those responsible for the worst foreign policy debacles and scandals in American history,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton, alluding to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“This man, a leader of the Russia collusion hoax and other damaging information operations, is a liar and a fraud. And the proof of his claim is in the eating of the pudding. He is a liar. More attention should be paid to him,” said The Federalist Editor-In-Chief Mollie Hemingway.

“We are less safe with this Biden team,” said Richard Grenell, who served as an ambassador and acting director of national intelligence during the Trump administration. Edward Wong, a diplomatic correspondent for The New York Times, said, “US intelligence failure on Israel-Gaza.”

The Biden administration is additionally facing intense scrutiny over a recent $6 billion agreement with Iran that secured the release of five American prisoners. Officials with the Biden administration pushed back on any suggestion that the unlocked funds were tied to the attack in Israel, insisting the money could only be used for humanitarian purposes.

Biden, in a statement to social media, said he spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “reiterated [his] unwavering commitment to Israel’s security.”