On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Katy Tur Reports,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) stated that President Joe Biden “has been ironclad” in his support of Israel but “what I think we have here is a problem of imprecision in the communication from the President.” And that the Biden administration should raise its concerns with Israel privately “because it leaves room for misunderstandings. And look, leaving the impression of possible daylight emboldens Hamas, risks emboldening Hamas, risks the possibility or even likelihood of it being less likely that we can get our hostages home, particularly our American hostages.”
Wasserman Schultz said, “I’m proud that President Biden has been ironclad supportive of Israel during and in the aftermath of October 7. He’s made sure that we stood steadfastly by our ally, fought hard to make sure we got the national security supplemental that provided $14.3 billion to Israel through — in spite of Republican obstacles, multiple Republican obstacles. But what I think we have here is a problem of imprecision in the communication from the President. What he said the other day left the impression that, from my conversations with the White House in the last couple of days, [was] not quite the way it came across. The President has said that — and the White House is communicating to Israel — that the 2,000-pound, 500-pound dumb bombs, the ones that land and result in widespread impact, that those are not appropriate for the engagement and involvement that Israel plans in Rafah, and then they’ve also been looking for and have yet to receive a plan for evacuating civilians and making sure that they can provide civilians with as much safety as possible. That communication really should be done with Israel side-by-side, like we have the ability to do every single day because of our close relationship, in private. We shouldn’t be having this debate publicly, because we have a close enough relationship with Israel to have these kinds of conversations behind closed doors.”
Guest host José Díaz-Balart then asked, “Do you think, Congresswoman, that the debate and discussion that we see on Capitol Hill, on college campuses throughout our country about the American involvement in Israel and with Israel should change? I know you talk about, for example, that miscommunication from the White House, but do you think that that debate and conversation that’s being carried out, mostly on Capitol Hill, is it time for a change?”
Wasserman Schultz responded, “Oh, absolutely not. And I don’t think that the President — I’m actually confident the President is not even close to suggesting a change in the United States’ support for Israel. The U.S.-Israel relationship is ironclad. The President has repeatedly stated that, and because we have such a close relationship, it is critical that we be able to make sure that we have these kinds of communications one-on-one, side-by-side, and not have this debate play out so publicly, because it leaves room for misunderstandings. And look, leaving the impression of possible daylight emboldens Hamas, risks emboldening Hamas, risks the possibility or even likelihood of it being less likely that we can get our hostages home, particularly our American hostages. Look, we have to remember that Hamas is eager to sacrifice as many Palestinian lives as possible, and they want to maximize the civilian toll of this operation as part of their cowardly PR campaign. That’s where they’re coming from. They don’t care about the loss of civilian life. And we need to make sure that we are precise in our communication and that we leave no possibility of misperception about daylight between us and Israel.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
