“Israel has a right to defend itself,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday, as America’s staunchest Middle East ally faced criticism for its retaliations against rocket attacks by Hamas.

It’s an anodyne statement from the Biden administration with two problems. First, it fails to state clearly that Israel is defending itself against a terrorist instigator. Second, too many officials in Joe Biden’s own party don’t actually believe that Hamas is the bad guy here.