Axios has the scoop, and they deserve all the credit for digging this up.
Joe Biden is abandoning Israel in its time of need, at least for the moment. He has halted aid that was bound for Israel.
It’s been a long time coming, to be sure. It is somewhat shocking that a man who is almost always wrong, with the worst instincts, stood up to the political pressure to abandon Israel.
But as his political support on the Left has been dwindling–the College Democrats, a subgroup of the Democrat National Committee, has broken with the president–Biden has decided that his need for every vote this November requires him to give aid and comfort to Hamas.
🚨 SCOOP from @axios @BarakRavid: Biden administration puts hold on ammo shipment to Israel
•Serious concern in Israeli gov’t
•First time since 10/7 the US has stopped a weapons shipment intended for Israeli military
•US fears Israel will invade Rafah https://t.co/f1R8v94VIo— Mike Allen (@mikeallen) May 5, 2024
The Biden administration last week put a hold on a shipment of U.S.-made ammunition to Israel, two Israeli officials told Axios.
Why it matters: It is the first time since the Oct. 7 attack that the U.S. has stopped a weapons shipment intended for the Israeli military.
- The incident raised serious concerns inside the Israeli government and sent officials scrambling to understand why the shipment was held, Israeli officials said.
- President Biden is facing sharp criticism among Americans who oppose his support of Israel. The administration in February asked Israel to provide assurances that U.S.-made weapons were being used by Israel Defense Forces in Gaza in accordance with international law. Israel provided a signed letter of assurances in March.
It’s appalling, but hardly more appalling than his successful efforts to delay the Rafah operation. Anybody with the most passing knowledge of war knows that giving your enemy breathing room when they are in disarray is disastrous, just as anybody with an ounce of sense knows that the best way to alleviate civilian suffering is to end the fighting as quickly as possible.
But Biden cares about neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians; he cares about his crumbling political prospects and nothing else.
You literally just froze a shipment of ammunition our country promised Israel.
Your post should say, ‘Never again UNLESS I am falling behind in the polls.’ https://t.co/kP78YqAlTm
— The🐰FOO (@PolitiBunny) May 6, 2024
As usual, Biden is reading the room very badly, not just regarding international relations, but also here in America. Most Americans surely have sympathy for the civilians in Gaza–at least the children–but there is still moral clarity in the populace about who is in the right in this war.
Sure, we all want to see it and the suffering end as quickly as possible, but the best way to do that is to ensure a quick victory. Delaying the Rafah operation has greatly increased the risk and the suffering.
Driving the news: The Biden administration is highly concerned Israel will invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah where more than one million displaced Palestinians have been taking shelter.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released several statements in recents days saying he intended to order an invasion of Rafah regardless of whether Israel and Hamas reach a deal for the release of hostages being held in Gaza and a ceasefire.
Netanyahu hinted at tensions with the Biden administration in a statement on Holocaust Remembrance Day issued Sunday.
- “In the terrible Holocaust, there were great world leaders who stood by idly; therefore, the first lesson of the Holocaust is: If we do not defend ourselves, nobody will defend us. And if we need to stand alone, we will stand alone,” he said.
Behind the scenes: Last Wednesday U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel and had a “tough” conversation with Netanyahu regarding a possible Israeli operation in Rafah, two sources briefed on the meeting said.
- Blinken told Netanyahu during their meeting that “a major military operation” in Rafah would lead to the U.S. publicly opposing it and would negatively impact U.S.-Israel relations.
- A day later White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters that Israeli leaders understand that President Biden “is sincere” when he talks about the possibility of changes to U.S. policy regarding the Gaza war “should they move ahead with some sort of ground operation in Rafah that doesn’t take into account the refugees.”
- White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said at a Financial Times conference in Washington on Saturday that the Biden administration made clear to Israel that the way it will conduct an operation in Rafah will influence U.S. policy towards the Gaza war.
I do not, in principle, deny that the US has a right to influence Israeli policies–after all, we are providing some of the weapons they are using–but the administration is using its influence in a manner that makes things dramatically worse. Israel must go into Rafah to root out Hamas for the simple reason that Hamas is bent on killing as many Israelis as they can in any way they can.
Hamas is not looking for peace nor an end to the war. They are the cause of the civilian casualties, both because they could end them at any moment if they laid down their weapons and released the hostages, but also because they use civilians as human shields. It is they who want civilian casualties, not Israel. And the Biden administration knows this.
But Biden and his minions are gutless and without a scintilla of morality in their hearts. They fear their left flank.
And that is all that matters. Damn the Israelis. Damn the hostages. And damn the Palestinian civilians. Biden is losing an election, and nothing else matters.
Abandoning Israel won’t help his electoral prospects, of course. Probably the opposite. But Biden is too stupid to even understand this.