At least one Republican has suggested that Joe Biden should be charged with withholding American weapons from Israel and even the president’s top ally in the Senate has opposed him, saying the IDF should “finish the job” in Rafah.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, is one of Biden’s top surrogates on the world stage. His public break with Biden’s policy is almost unprecedented.
Coons recounted a call last night with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Senate on Thursday.
“Not only do you have the right to defend the Israeli people against Hamas, you have the obligation,” Coons told Netanyahu. ‘You have to go after them. You have to finish the job. You have to go to Rafah.
Still, he called on Israel to allow Palestinian civilians an exit from Rafah.
“There are a million civilian refugees who have flown to the bottom of Gaza and are now facing the hard border with Egypt. And since Egypt will not allow any of them to enter Egypt, a path must be provided for the civilians to abandon Rafah before entering on a large scale, with a bombing campaign and a ground campaign to minimize civilian injuries and deaths.
President Mike Johnson called the move a “betrayal” after he agreed to risk his job and introduce a $95 billion foreign aid package in the House of Representatives that included $26 billion for Israel.
That package was approved only after six months of delay, as both sides of the aisle could not agree on aid to Ukraine or border security provisions.
Senator Tom Cotton demanded the House impeach President Joe Biden.
“Some people say Joe Biden is doing this for his re-election, which would be bad enough,” the Arkansas Republican said. I should add that it would also be grounds for impeachment.
Graham increased pressure on Biden to negotiate diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. “I think a Democratic president is in a better position to build on the Abraham Accords reached in Saudi Arabia. That would be a significant achievement,” he said.
Senator Tom Cotton demanded the House impeach President Joe Biden. “Some people say Joe Biden is doing this for his re-election, which would be bad enough,” the Arkansas Republican said. “I should add that it would also be grounds for impeachment.”
It dates back to 2019, when former President Donald Trump was accused of what his critics said was withholding aid to Ukraine for political campaign purposes.
Other Senate Republicans, who had successfully avoided the half-year dispute of the House impeachment inquiry, were hesitant to make such a call, even as they considered Biden a “propaganda tool” and a “spokesperson for Hamas.” “.
“I didn’t come here to talk about that, but given what they did to President Trump, I think that argument could be made,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told DailyMail.com at a news conference.
“This puts the hostages at greater risk and makes the war longer. “It emboldens Iran in time to contain it,” she said, adding that it could also squander the United States’ “last best opportunity to make structural changes in the Middle East.”
The difference between Republicans and progressive Democrats’ views on Biden’s handling of the Israel-Gaza conflict could not be starker, as if they were talking about two different presidents.
Last month, 56 House Democrats, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, urged the pause in a letter to Biden.
Progressives have taken to calling Biden “Genocide Joe” and saying he has “blood on his hands” for allowing the war to continue for seven months before threatening to withhold aid.
Meanwhile, Republicans insist that Israel could do no more to avoid civilian casualties if it wants to eliminate Hamas.
“Israel does not want to kill a single civilian,” Cruz said. “There is no military on the face of the earth that does more to protect civilians.”
Before the passage of the $26 billion aid package last month, the United States had given Israel $216 billion in aid since 1946. Most of that amount came from the $3.3 billion the United States offers each year as grants under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program. US funding is estimated to account for around 15 percent of the Israeli defense budget.
The White House put the brakes on Biden’s comments on withholding foreign aid on Thursday.
‘Everyone keeps talking about suspending arms shipments. Weapons shipments continue to arrive in Israel. And they’re still getting the vast majority of everything they need to defend themselves,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
Biden told CNN on Wednesday that hWe would stop more arms shipments to Israel Yeah Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launches a full-scale invasion of Rafah.
The Israelis reacted with fury and ceasefire negotiations stalled. Netanyahu did not respond directly to Biden’s comment, but posted a video on social media of a defiant speech he gave this week in which he said “no pressure” will stop Israel from defending itself.
The president, last week, delayed the delivery of 3,500 bombs to the United States ally in the Middle East. It was the first time he used his executive power to influence Israel’s approach in its war with Hamas, after progressives begged it for months to do just that.
His words of warning Wednesday were the most direct threat Biden has made to Israel during the seven-month war.
‘Civilians have died in Rafah as a result of those bombs and in other ways. They go after population centers. “I made it clear that if they go to Rafah (they haven’t gone to Rafah yet), I will not provide them with weapons,” Biden said.
But Kirby seemed to be clarifying the president’s position.
‘As the President said, Israel has not yet launched such an operation. So he was talking about what would happen in the future, if they did. That is a choice Israel will have to make. And we hope they don’t,” he noted.
As a result, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, called Biden a “spokesman for Hamas” and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, accused him of being “the most anti-Israel president this nation has ever seen.”
Cruz said Biden has been “undermining Israel every step of the way.”
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, noted that it was Biden who prepared the request for supplemental funding for Israel.
‘Without any consultation, the administration stopped the delivery of essential weapons over the weekend. He did not report to the Appropriations, Foreign Affairs, or Armed Services committees. “It was a unilateral decision.”
Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., accused Biden of having a “schizophrenic national security policy.”
“He says he wants to help Israel, but he’s afraid of losing a handful of votes in Michigan.”
Just as Israel and Saudi Arabia were on the verge of normalizing relations, Hamas launched its October 7 attack on Israel, killing some 1,200 Israelis and subsequently leading to the deaths of more than 35,000 Palestinians in Israel’s counteroffensive.
Graham increased pressure on Biden to negotiate diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Israeli soldiers with military vehicles gather at an undisclosed position near the border fence with the Gaza Strip.
“I think a Democratic president is in a better position to take advantage of the Abraham Accords reached in Saudi Arabia. That would be a great achievement,” he said.
The Abraham Accords, negotiated during the Trump administration, led to normalization between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
On Monday, the Israeli army warned some 110,000 civilians to leave Rafah, and hours later its tanks moved in. It was not a full-scale invasion, but some fear it is imminent.
Israel has threatened a major assault on the area to defeat thousands of Hamas fighters it says are hiding there.
