What happens when a poor manager insists on micromanaging? Washington’s insistence on running Israel’s war by remote control is rife with multiple errors that have set back America’s interests. The Israel Defense Forces now says it has mostly defeated Hamas’s battalion at Rafah. Separately, it is deepening the war on terror in the West Bank. America, meanwhile, is re-examining the debacle of President Biden’s Gaza pier to nowhere.  

The House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, Michael McCaul, vowed on Thursday to conduct hearings on “how American taxpayer money was wasted in such a ridiculous and irresponsible way.” He is following up on an internal report Wednesday that Mr. Biden ignored warnings about the Gaza humanitarian project. At an estimated cost of more than $230 million, the pier off Gaza’s shores was scrapped before it had a chance to deliver much aid. 

The brainstorm to erect a pier off of Gaza was announced by Mr. Biden in a State of the Union speech. It served as a pushback against Democrats’s hysterical claims that Israel was committing “genocide” in Gaza. Never mind that Israel facilitated hundreds of aid trucks through land crossings. After no country volunteered troops, the IDF agreed to provide it security. Two Israeli soldiers were killed, and five Americans were injured as well. 

While his humanitarian project was failing spectacularly, the president warned Israel against operating in southern Gaza’s largest city. “If they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons,” Mr. Biden boasted on CNN. White House hands insisted there was no way Israel could evacuate 2.1 million civilians from Rafah, and warned of a human catastrophe. Regardless, the IDF conducted the evacuation in days, although dismantling Hamas took longer. 

On Thursday the IDF told reporters that Hamas’s Rafah brigade is now gone. The delay in achieving that feat was mostly due to a larger than perceived maze of tunnels under the city, and on the Egyptian border, known as the Philadelphi corridor. That is where Iranian funds and arms are smuggled in. The IDF estimates it has destroyed 80 percent of Rafah’s tunnels. Now pressure is growing on Israel to cede the Philadelphi corridor to enable a cease-fire deal. 

That pressure is part of an American push to end the Gaza war and return hostages before the November election. It emboldens the Hamas chief, Yahya Sinwar, who knows that if Israel leaves Philadelphi, he could live another day, rearm, and plan the next October 7. For now Sinwar is reportedly surrounding himself with 22 hostages. No wonder he’s rejecting all deals. Why would he let go of hostages, when they are his best life insurance?

As Hamas is weakened in Gaza, its patron, Iran, is smuggling arms through Iraq and Jordan to Judea and Samaria. Last week at Tel Aviv, a West Banker detonated a backpack armed with a large explosive payload. Since then the IDF significantly intensified anti-terror operations at Jenin and Nablus in the northern West Bank. It is advising non-combatants to relocate temporarily, so as to avoid civilian deaths in intensified urban combat. 

Washington quickly pushed back. “We reject the idea of mass displacements of Palestinians in the West Bank,” a State Department spokesman told reporters. Also this week, the administration is announcing a new set of sanctions against Israeli settlers. Even self defense in skirmishes between Jewish farmers and Arab neighbors is seen at Washington as terrorism, though unlawful Jewish attacks are punished by Israeli courts.   

Frequent American announcements of sanctions are putting the onus for West Bank terrorism on Israel even as it fights to prevent terror attacks. Meanwhile Washington eases sanctions on Iran’s mullahs. Strangling their economy is crucial for ending all Mideast terror wars. Mr. Biden’s support for Israel is burdened by conditions that weaken its war for survival — a problem likely to be compounded if Vice President Harris is elected president.