President Biden said Wednesday that he will halt shipments of U.S. weapons to Israel, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu moves forward with a major assault on the city of Rafah in Gaza.
“I’ve made it clear that if they go into Rafah — they haven’t gone into Rafah yet — if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, to deal with the problem,” Mr. Biden said in a CNN interview that aired Wednesday evening.
Mr. Biden said “civilians have been killed in Gaza” as a result of 2,000-pound bombs, of which his administration paused shipments last week.
The president’s admission that U.S. bombs have been used to kill civilians in Gaza is stunning. It is also an attempt to win back young progressives who have soured on him, calling him “Genocide Joe” because of the U.S. role in Israel’s war with Hamas.
It is also astonishing that Mr. Biden is now prepared to condition providing Israel with weapons on the Jewish state’s behavior, marking a major shift in policy.
Mr. Biden had repeatedly resisted pressure from young progressive and members of his own party to limit shipments of arms to Israel in response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
However, the pending invasion of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinian civilians have sheltered — fleeing the conflict in other parts of Gaza — appears to be a bridge too far for Mr. Biden.
The president said the U.S. will continue to provide defense weapons to Israel, including for its Iron Dome air defense system, but other shipments would be terminated if a major ground offensive in Gaza begins.
“We’re going to continue to make sure Israel is secure in terms of Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks that came out of the Middle East recently,” Mr. Biden said. “But it’s, it’s just wrong. We’re not going to — we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells.”
The Biden administration has already paused a shipment of “high-payload munitions” to Israel as a warning not to invade Rafah without a plan for civilians sheltering there. Officials have also said they are reviewing the potential sale or transfer of other munitions.
By tying the shipment of American weapons to Israel’s behavior, Mr. Biden risks widening the rift between him and Mr. Netanyahu.
The two leaders spoke with one another on Monday as Israel ordered the tens of thousands of civilians living in Rafah to leave and hit border areas of the city.
Yet, Mr. Biden insisted that Israel had not yet crossed a red line yet because it has avoided heavily populated areas.
“They haven’t gone into the population centers. What they did is right on the border. And it’s causing problems with, right now, in terms of — with Egypt, which I’ve worked very hard to make sure we have a relationship and help,” he said.
Mr. Biden added that he’s made it clear to Mr. Netanyahu that Israel won’t get U.S. support if they go after the population centers in Rafah.
Israeli officials are reportedly deeply frustrated with the U.S. withholding arms, according to the country’s media outlets.