President Joe Biden has called on Israel to adopt an immediate ceasefire with Hamas. In a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, Biden warned of other undefined U.S. policy shifts absent Israeli policy changes following its accidental killing of seven aid workers on Monday.

Putting those prospective policy shifts to one side, Biden’s call for a ceasefire represents a major strategic and moral error. Israel cannot accept such a ceasefire without signaling unacceptable weakness to its enemies. Deterrent posturing is always a sacrosanct Israeli security concern for two reasons. First, the legacy of the Holocaust amid repeated efforts by Israel’s neighbors to eliminate it. Second, the rising specter of an Iranian nuclear weapon. But it’s a particularly critical concern following the profound degradation of Israeli deterrent power amid Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, invasion. Biden’s ceasefire demand will only fuel Hamas’s intransigence and encourage Iranian aggression.