New reporting says the Biden administration had real leverage over Israel during the Gaza war and chose not to use it — damaging for Democrats who claimed they pushed hard for a ceasefire.

• State Department staff drew up legal options to sanction specific Israeli military units; Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked for them, then never acted.
• Those same units were later cleared by Israel's own government, cementing a pattern of no consequences that carried into Trump's term.
• Pentagon lawyers resisted calling Israeli actions war crimes partly because the same standard could later be applied to US forces.
• Palestinian Americans trapped in Gaza and the West Bank got little help getting out, and the number killed is still unknown.
• Officials privately blamed Netanyahu for blocking a ceasefire while publicly blaming Hamas, and sidelined Democrats like Pelosi and Sanders who called for cutting off weapons.

Outlook: The same deference to Israel is now shaping US policy on the Iran war, with little sign Washington is willing to use its leverage.