The administration’s abstention on a biased ceasefire resolution was a sellout of Western civilization.

Henry Kissinger once said, “It may be dangerous to be America’s enemy, but to be America’s friend is fatal.” To confirm Kissinger’s assertion, look no further than the Biden Administration’s failure to veto the U.N. Security Council’s most recent resolution on Gaza. Without requiring the release of any of the hostages—at least five of whom are Americans—or condemning Hamas, the UNSC passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. America abstained.

There is no way to describe Biden’s actions except as a complete betrayal of Israel and the Jewish people as a whole. Biden did it for the most craven possible reason: He wants to win the votes of Jew-haters.

Even the most obtuse and incompetent among us—which by definition includes the Biden Administration—understand that Israel will launch a ground assault in Rafah no matter what the Security Council says. It does not matter who the Israeli prime minister is either. Moreover, Biden’s strategy of targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is transparently cynical. Netanyahu may be very unpopular among significant portions of the Israeli electorate but his position on the war with Hamas is overwhelmingly supported by Israelis across the political spectrum.

Israel has no choice but to destroy Hamas. Any continuing Hamas presence in Gaza poses an existential threat to Israel. Either Hamas is destroyed or Israel will be destroyed. Periodic mass attacks against Israel like the one on Oct. 7—which Hamas has promised to repeat as many times as it can—could result in the rapid depopulation of the Jewish state and, before long, its demise.

The latest UNSC resolution guarantees that Israel’s task will be a harder one. Hamas believes that the world, including the U.S., will save it from Israel. Thus, Hamas will be more intransigent in hostage negotiations. Any chance that Hamas or some of its key leaders might surrender no longer exists. More Israeli soldiers will die as a result.

Biden has also put himself in a lose/lose situation.

If Israel does decide to stay its hand and not invade Rafah, then Israel and by extension the U.S. will lose the war. On the other hand, if Israel does go into Rafah—as it must—it will be seen as sticking its thumb in the eye of an American president. Biden will be humiliated because one of America’s closest allies ignored a direct warning. He will look even weaker and more ineffectual than he already does.

In response, Biden may well cut off military support for Israel or at least place significant restrictions on Israel’s ability to use weapons supplied by the U.S. If he does nothing, he will look weaker still. Regardless of what he does, the relationship between Israel and America will be strained if not irretrievably broken. Needless to say, Israel will be wrongly blamed for all of this.

Israel is not Blanche Dubois. It cannot afford to rely on the kindness of strangers. Israel exists so that the destiny of the Jewish people will be in the hands of the Jewish people. The West’s indifference to Jewish suffering during the Holocaust is not lost on Israelis. That is a fact of life the Biden Administration does not seem to grasp. Given a choice between losing the war with Biden’s support and well wishes or winning the war and alienating Biden, Israel will—and must—choose victory.

But the Biden disaster does not end there. His betrayal of Israel has permanently weakened the U.S.

After the catastrophic surrender in Afghanistan, our allies and enemies alike became concerned that America is unreliable and weak. Now they are convinced. If the U.S. will not stand with one of its closest allies in the world against a sworn enemy of America that is funded, trained and armed by Iran, why would any country believe America will stand with them?

That lesson is not lost on the Gulf Arab states. Ironically, unlike Biden, they are rooting for Israel against their common enemy Hamas. Because of U.S. perfidy, however, the Arab states have already begun to turn to China and away from the U.S. Biden’s sellout of Israel will only accelerate that geopolitical shift.

It will also have serious repercussions in Ukraine and Taiwan. America’s failure to veto the UNSC resolution will embolden Russia and China as they seek to replace the American-led world order with a new world order led by tyrants. Knowing that the U.S. will ultimately surrender when pressed hands a huge strategic advantage to Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.

In short, Biden’s move was not just a sellout of Israel. It was a sellout of Western civilization.

Eric R. Levine is a founding member of the New York City law firm Eiseman, Levine, Lehrhaupt & Kakoyiannis, P.C. He is an essayist, political commentator and fundraiser for Republican candidates with an emphasis on the U.S. Senate.