🚨🚨🚨BREAKING: President Biden tells @ErinBurnett that if Israel invades the city of Rafah, the U.S. will stop supplying it with artillery shells, bombs for fighter jets and other offensive weapons — Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) May 8, 2024 Biden tells CNN he won't send weapons to Israel if they launch a major invasion of Rafah. It's …
Foreign Affairs Open Thread: Well, You’ve Got What You Asked for, Bibi…Post + Comments (75)
Let me note that it’s not crazy to want to attack Hamas in its final hold out. Israel went into this war with the goal not of eroding but destroying Hamas’s military capability. That’s where they’re hold up. If you still want to destroy their military capacity you need to finish Hamas off there…
But let’s go back to a different point. The US doesn’t want another bloodbath in Rafah. The US has been making this very, very, very clear. Many people in the Israeli national security world think that needs to happen – if not today then at some point. But for the far right in Netanyahu’s government it’s a condition of not toppling the government. The US has its own views and its own interests. The Israeli government has been swaggering around saying, hey we’re sovereign, we’re nobody’s protectorate and we’ll do what we want … and also, please don’t cut off our supply of heavy ordinance otherwise our army will grind to a halt in a few days. Sorry, that’s not how it works.
If you want to fight the war with permanent resupply from the US, you’re probably going to have to take some input on how you approach things. If you don’t eventually you’re going to have something like this happen.
Of course, Biden’s getting exactly the thanks you’d expect for this, from the Very Serious Media as well as the social-media screamers on both ends of the horseshoe. If you think I’m exaggerating, search ‘Dearborn‘ on twitter…
U.S. ambassador to Israel explains Biden's position to a leading Haredi rabbi:
“It’s not easy because it’s a very hard war and it’s not a very popular war in the United States—very unpopular.”
Not true, but revealing.https://t.co/WzthG2bOnf
— Elliot Kaufman (@ElliotKaufman6) May 8, 2024
Why the US paused the delivery of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel ahead of a possible Rafah attack https://t.co/i1FfeLwC1o
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 8, 2024
… Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told a Senate panel Wednesday that smaller, more precise weapons are needed for a densely populated area like Rafah.
Still, he made clear the decision wasn’t final.
“We’re going to continue to do what’s necessary to ensure that Israel has the means to defend itself,” Austin said. “But that said, we are currently reviewing some near-term security assistance shipments in the context of unfolding events in Rafah.”…
Israel said it was disappointed with the decision, suggesting it was done due to political pressure on President Joe Biden. Some defense experts said the move was largely symbolic but could signal more trouble ahead in the relationship between the U.S. and Israel.
“It’s some kind of diplomatic message to (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu that he needs to take into consideration American interests more than he has over the last few months,” said Itamar Yaar, former deputy head of Israel’s National Security Council. “At least for now it will not impact Israeli capability but it’s some kind of a signal, a ‘be careful.’”…
Further indicator, to my jaded eyes, that Biden made a good choice:
We stand by allies, we don’t second guess them. Biden’s dithering on Israel weapons is bad policy and a terrible message to Israel, our allies, and the world.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) May 8, 2024
ETA: Mike Pompeo, there’s a name we hadn’t heard in a while…
Probably not great that that GOP has open contempt for this country. https://t.co/MJtCvl17RR
— Jean-Michel Connard 좆됐어 (@torriangray) May 8, 2024