Six months of terror since Oct. 7. It’s time for Israel to finish off Hamas

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Six months ago, Israel suffered the largest slaughter of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust, with over 1,100 killed and 134 hostages, Americans among them, still languishing and tortured in the terror tunnels of Gaza.

Just days after the brutal coordinated attacks by Hamas, former president George W. Bush spoke these rather prescient words: "It's not going to take long for people [to say]: 'It's gone on too long. Surely, there's a way to settle this through negotiations. Both sides are guilty.’ My view is: One side is guilty. And it's not Israel."

Bush was right, it didn’t take long, it took six months, and now the clock is clearly ticking on Israel’s military efforts. The key question is whether the clock is also ticking on Hamas.

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In Jerusalem, member of the War Cabinet Benny Gantz has called for elections in September, in part an effort to quell domestic political strife over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the hostages, but also perhaps a signal that major military operations must wrap up by then.

Across the ocean in Washington, both President Joe Biden and his rival, former President Donald Trump are urging Israel to act quickly, but in two very different and telling ways.

A feckless Biden, bowing to the far left of his party, is pressuring Netanyahu to end the conflict, with or without, it seems, the release of all the hostages or the total defeat of Hamas. Thankfully, some Democrats, such as New York Rep. Ritchie Torres and Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, are resisting these cowardly calls.

Meanwhile, Trump had a different message to Israel, telling radio host Hugh