Israelis across the political spectrum were shocked Thursday by U.S. President Joe Biden’s commitment to stop the shipment of offensive weapons to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to prevent Israel from attacking Hamas in Rafah.
Biden made the threat in an interview Wednesday with CNN that aired early Thursday local time, just hours after Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin admitted to the Senate that a shipment of bombs to Israel had been paused.
The president expanded the stoppage to include artillery, and accused Israel of using American-made weapons to kill Palestinian civilians — a claim that echoed the accusations of antisemitic “encampments” at the nation’s universities.
The weapons “pause” contradicted Biden’s repeated claim that his commitment to Israel’s security was “ironclad.”
Though Biden said the U.S. would continued to back defensive weapons like the Iron Dome, originally developed by Israel, it would prevent Israel from expanding its offensive capability, effectively leaving Israel to wait to be attacked.
In the U.S., reactions were swift, with Republicans expressing their outrage. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (D-NY) wrote to the president to demand an explanation. Though some Democrats, notably Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), were vocal in their criticism as well, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the self-styled “shomer” or “guardian” of Israel in Congress, was conspicuously silent.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) backed the president’s move, as did Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-NY), who applauded the student activists who had protested on campus for weeks, shouting antisemitic slogans and abusing Jewish students.
In Israel, leaders were appalled by Biden’s betrayal. The president had traveled to Israel shortly after the October 7 terror attack by Hamas, and had warned Iran and its proxies not to expand the war, issuing his infamous “don’t.” But Biden’s position changed as he feared losing political support from Muslim voters in Michigan, as well as young left-wing voters, and he became increasingly critical of Israel, discouraging an attack on Hamas’s last stronghold in Rafah.
Wednesday’s threat by Biden was met with outrage — and with statements of resolve to continue the fight, regardless.
Israel’s Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, posted on X: “Israel will continue to fight Hamas until it is destroyed. There is no more just war than this.” Israel’s UN ambassador, Gilad Erdan, called Biden’s statement a “difficult and very disappointing remark,” according to the Times of Israel.
He said Biden had given hope to Israel’s enemies, and added: that “many Jewish Americans who voted for the president and for the Democratic Party” would now be “hesitant.”
Israel’s controversial right-wing national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, posted on X that “Hamas loves Biden.”
Hamas ❤️Biden
— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) May 9, 2024
Israeli President Isaac Herzog, the Times of Israel notes, criticized Ben Gvir for that statement. And opposition leader Yair Lapid called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fire Ben Gvir. But many Israelis privately agreed.
The Abu Ali Express channel on Telegram, a news source for many Israelis, noted public dismay at Biden and praised former President Donald Trump for a post on Truth Social in which he said: “PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.”
The IDF began an attack on Rafah on Monday, taking the border crossing with Egypt and the Philadelphi corridor, a road along the Gaza-Egypt border. The IDF has also begun attacking Hamas positions in Rafah neighborhoods.
There is overwhelming support in Israel for an attack on Hamas in Rafah, which many view as essential to destroying the terror organization’s ability to wage war, with or without a deal to release over 100 remaining Israeli hostages.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have served in the war as reservists, with many volunteering for duty in Gaza.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
