A bipartisan choir of lawmakers bashed President Joe Biden over his recent actions toward Israel.
In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Biden said he would stop sending offensive munitions, including artillery shells and bombs, if Israel went ahead with its plans to fully invade Rafah in the Gaza Strip. Several allies and critics came out against his decision.
“Hard disagree and deeply disappointing,” Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), the outspoken pro-Israel Democrat and a firm ally of Biden, said in a post on X.
Fetterman was joined by frequent critics of the Biden administration, who issued strong denouncements.
“Joe Biden’s White House is the most anti-Israel in history,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said. “Just recently, the Biden administration halted a munitions shipment to Israel. The Biden administration is aiding Hamas’s war against Israel.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence drew a parallel with the impeachment of former President Donald Trump over his halting of foreign aid to Ukraine.
“This is totally unacceptable,” he said in a post on X. “I’m old enough to remember when Democrats impeached another President for supposedly withholding foreign aid that had been approved by Congress. Stop the threats Joe. America Stands with Israel!”
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) made similar remarks before Biden’s interview following reports that the United States might halt aid over a Rafah invasion.
“As the leader of the free world, America cannot claim that its commitment to Israel is ‘iron-clad’ and then proceed to withhold aid from Israel,” he said. “The mixed messaging makes a mockery of our credibility as an ally. No one will take our word seriously.”
Not all reactions were negative, however. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) praised Biden’s decision, seeing it as a vindication of the effectiveness of campus protests.
“This is what young people across the country were protesting for and finally the needle has moved in a significant way,” she said. “I hope we see more progress, but don’t ever let people tell you that your voices are meaningless and your actions are worthless. The ark of what is possible is always within us to bend.”
Fellow “Squad” member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who has been sharply critical of Biden over his Israel policy in the past, issued glowing praise of the president.
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“President Biden enforcing conditions on US military aid and holding the Israeli gov to the same bar we hold all our allies to is the responsible, secure, and just thing to do,” she said. “@POTUS’s historic shift to include Israel in US standards makes the world safer and our values clear.”
Despite the clamor over Biden’s remarks, the decision of whether or not to withhold further U.S. weapon shipments to Israel isn’t likely to have an effect on the country’s ability to wage war against Hamas. A U.S. official told the Washington Post that Israel already has enough munitions to carry out offensive operations even without additional U.S. offensive weaponry.