During an interview with CNN Wednesday night, President Joe Biden reversed longstanding U.S. policy and declared he will stop precision weapons shipments to Israel should the Israeli Defense Forces head deeper into Rafah.
#BREAKING: Biden tells CNN that he will not only continue to pause shipments of bombs to Israel, but also hold up artillery shells because what the IDF has done and wants to do is “just wrong”....
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 8, 2024
CNN’s Erin Burnett: “I want to ask you about something happening as we sit here… pic.twitter.com/vqxewKM7CU
Given there are approximately 8000 Hamas terrorists in Rafah, where hostages are also reportedly being held, the declaration allows Hamas to stay alive and forces Israel to lose the war -- a final stronghold for the Iranian backed terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip.
"Biden has now said expressly that he will cut off weapons to Israel if Israel invades Rafah. Let’s be brutally clear here — Israel cannot defeat Hamas without entering Rafah, where Hamas maintains four fully functioning battalions. Biden is siding with Hamas over Israel — there’s no other way to say it," former U.S Ambassador to Israel David Friedman says. "And to those who say he is protecting the Palestinian people, I call BS. Hamas is a far greater enemy of the Palestinians than is Israel. Hamas is the cause of their suffering. Palestinians will continue to suffer until Hamas is eradicated. And, as for the hostages held by Hamas (including Americans), this betrayal of Israel makes their release much more difficult.Biden continues to fail on every tough foreign policy call. And it’s all to gain the votes of self-hating Americans."
Biden has now said expressly that he will cut off weapons to Israel if Israel invades Rafah. Let’s be brutally clear here — Israel cannot defeat Hamas without entering Rafah, where Hamas maintains four fully functioning battalions. Biden is siding with Hamas over Israel — there’s…
— David M Friedman (@DavidM_Friedman) May 8, 2024
On Capitol Hill, Biden is being blasted by lawmakers for the dangerous decision -- which is obviously being made to appease Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib in Michigan.
“President Biden has broken his ‘ironclad’ commitment. While his appeasement has failed to halt terrorist attacks in the Middle East, he has no right to withhold ammunition from our greatest ally in the region. There should be no wavering in U.S. support for Israel as they defend their right to exist and fight to bring Hamas-held hostages home," Republican Senator and Member of the Armed Services Committee Joni Ernst released in a statement. "As he plays politics with these lives and abandons American civilians to Iran-backed terrorists, the Biden administration fails to admit the munitions he is denying are the precision tools needed to prevent civilian casualties. Even though this president is trying to talk out of both sides of his mouth, I will continue to hold him accountable to his previously stated belief that providing arms to Israel is critical."
Democratic Senator John Fetterman is rejecting the decision.
Hard disagree and deeply disappointing. pic.twitter.com/96aTeEvgPt
— Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) May 8, 2024
Meanwhile, security experts are warning of the broader consequences to the U.S. should Biden keep his word and calling on Congress to act.
Like a failed university president, Joe Biden is trying to appease the Hamas encampment inside his own party. He is willing to kneecap a democratic ally under threat from Iran and its many terror proxies all to buy quiet at the Democratic National Convention. Congress must act.
— Richard Goldberg (@rich_goldberg) May 8, 2024
I don’t do predictions, but I would be shocked if we don’t see an uptick in attacks against Israel by Iran’s proxies in the coming days.
— Jonathan Schanzer (@JSchanzer) May 9, 2024
They will push Israel with the certain knowledge that POTUS has gone wobbly.