The Biden administration told Congress on Tuesday that it was moving forward with providing Israel with more than $1 billion in new weapons despite President Joe Biden’s warning that he would withhold more bombs if there was a ground invasion of Rafah.
The Wall Street Journal reported The move cited officials as saying the arms transfer would include $500 million in tactical vehicles and $60 million in mortar shells.
It comes after Biden stopped a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to send a message to Israel about attacking densely populated urban areas as more than 1 million Palestinians have sought refuge in the southern Gaza city.
“We continue to send military assistance,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said from the White House podium on Monday. “We have stopped a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs because we do not believe they should be dropped on densely populated cities.”
It could be years before the new $1 billion in weapons reaches Israel, but progress with the transfer indicated that Biden did not want to further taint his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
President Joe Biden has warned that he will halt further arms shipments to Israel if the country mounts a ground offensive in Rafah, a city where more than a million Palestinians have sought refuge.
Children watch smoke rise during Israeli strikes east of Rafah on Monday. The Biden administration is moving forward with a billion-dollar weapons package for Israel despite the president’s warnings not to attack the dense urban area.
Sullivan is expected to visit Israel and Saudi Arabia this weekend, but White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre would not confirm an Axios report That said, Israel had agreed not to expand its military operation in Rafah ahead of the national security adviser’s trip.
Part of Sullivan’s diplomatic mission will also be to pressure Saudi Arabia to reach a “mega deal” to normalize relations with Israel.
The White House has warned Netanyahu that a deadly offensive in Rafah could end the long-sought deal with the Saudis.
But Israeli tanks continued to advance toward Rafah on Tuesday.
Biden has been paying a political price from the political left for supporting Israel while Palestinian civilians are being massacred.
More than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed since the conflict began following the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, which left around 1,200 Israelis dead.
The figure comes courtesy of the Hamas-controlled Palestinian health authority, which does not distinguish between Hamas fighters and Palestinian civilians.
Democratic members of Congress have condemned Israel for pushing the Palestinian population into a humanitarian crisis, while widespread pro-Palestinian protests have occurred on university campuses, resulting in mass arrests.
Meanwhile, Republicans have criticized the Biden administration for delaying the shipment of bombs.
On Sunday, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham launched a tirade about the pause after Meet the Press host Kristen Welker noted that Republican President Ronald Reagan had taken a similar step in 1982 over fears that Israel was using manufactured weapons in the United States against the Palestinian civilian population. .
Welker told Graham, “Well, historians would say, ‘Why is it okay for Reagan to do it and not President Biden?'” a question that infuriated the Republican senator.
‘Well, why is it okay? Well, can I say this?’ Graham said, when Welker interrupted. ‘Why is it okay for the United States to drop two nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end its existential threat of war? Why was it okay for us to do that? I thought it was okay.’
“To Israel, do what you have to do to survive as a Jewish state,” he said.
Welker, again, noted that senior military officials have said the technology has changed.
“Yeah, those military officers you’re talking about are full of crap,” Graham snapped.