The U.S. won't continue to underwrite far- right Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu's stockpile of heavy munitions if the Trump- adjacent PM orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah:
President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt some shipments of American weapons to Israel – which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza – if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers,” Biden told CNN’s Erin Burnett in an exclusive interview on “Erin Burnett OutFront,” referring to 2,000-pound bombs that Biden paused shipments of last week.
“I made it clear that if they go into Rafah – they haven’t gone in Rafah yet – if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities – that deal with that problem,” Biden said.
The president’s announcement that he was prepared to condition American weaponry on Israel’s actions amounts to a turning point in the seven-month conflict between Israel and Hamas. And his acknowledgement that American bombs had been used to kill civilians in Gaza was a stark recognition of the United States’ role in the war. [snip]
“We’re not walking away from Israel’s security. We’re walking away from Israel’s ability to wage war in those areas,” Biden said.
Biden said while the US would continue to provide defensive weapons to Israel, including for its Iron Dome air defense system, other shipments would end should a major ground invasion of Rafah begin.
“We’re going to continue to make sure Israel is secure in terms of Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks that came out of the Middle East recently,” he said. “But it’s, it’s just wrong. We’re not going to – we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells.”
Already, the US has paused a shipment of “high-payload munitions” due to Israel’s possible operations in Rafah without a plan for the civilians there, according to the Pentagon, though it said a final decision on that shipment hadn’t been made. The administration has said it is reviewing the potential sale or transfer of other munitions...
Biden's career-long solidarity with and empathy for the State of Israel has been tested mightily by Netanyahu who, like his friend the Malignant Loser, is only interested in self- preservation at any cost to his country. After the evil Hamas terrorist attack on October 7 of last year, America and the world stood in shock and anger at the bloodiest day in Israel's history and the worst mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust, and the seizing of hostages. Biden's seemingly unconditional embrace of the people of Israel and its Prime Minister was a show of righteous support for a friend and ally that's ended up working against him. For reasons that have become evident in subsequent months, Netanyahu has pursued a war that has left tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians dead and wounded, Gaza in rubble, and Israel increasingly isolated, even with most of his Western allies condemning the on-going bloodletting. Entreaties by Israel's best ally, America, have fallen on the deaf ears of those pursuing the war for their domestic political and ultra- religious agendas.
As David Rothkopf writes of Netanyahu ("America's Worst Ally"):
... He has taken advantage of the long-standing ties between his country and the United States while in turn providing, especially in recent years, very little except damage, burdens, complications, and worse.
He ignores U.S. advice and entreaties. He undermines U.S. interests. He has used the support he’s received from the U.S. in the commission of what many believe to be serial war crimes. And to top it all off, he is singularly ungrateful for all the backing he has received.
Further, he compounds all of the above by being a terrible leader who has made multiple monumental errors, promoted extremist monsters to leading positions in his government and, while he was at it, sought to undermine Israeli democracy, committed a variety of domestic offenses in Israel and, at the same time, supported a criminal element in U.S. politics...
F*ck Netanyahu. This is the right move, albeit late in coming.
(Image: Evan Vucci/ AP)
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