The Biden administration told Congress on Tuesday that it was making progress on giving Israel more than $1 billion in new weapons, despite President Joe Biden’s warning that he would withhold more bombs if there were a ground invasion of Rafah.
The Wall Street Journal reports this The move quotes officials as saying the arms transfer would include $500 million in tactical vehicles and $60 million in mortar shells.
It comes after Biden held back a shipment of 2,000 pounds of bombs to send a message to Israel about attacking densely packed urban areas as more than 1 million Palestinians have sought refuge in the southern city of Gaza.
“We will continue to send military assistance,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said from the White House podium on Monday. “We have halted a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs because we do not believe they should be dropped in densely populated cities.”
It could take years for the new $1 billion in weapons to make their way to Israel, but moving forward with the transfer signaled that Biden did not want to further tarnish relations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
President Joe Biden has warned he will halt more arms shipments to Israel if the country launches a ground offensive in Rafah, a city where more than a million Palestinians have sought shelter.
Boys see smoke rising during Israeli attacks east of Rafah on Monday. The Biden administration is moving ahead with a $1 billion arms package to Israel despite the president’s warnings not to attack the densely populated 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 It stated that Israel had agreed not to expand its military operation in Rafah ahead of the national security adviser’s travels.
Part of Sullivan’s diplomatic mission will also be to force Saudi Arabia into a “mega-deal” to normalize relations with Israel.
The White House has warned Netanyahu that a deadly Rafah offensive could destroy the long-sought deal with the Saudis.
But Israeli tanks continued to push deeper into Rafah on Tuesday.
Biden has paid a political price from the political left for supporting Israel while Palestinian civilians are being slaughtered.
More than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed since the conflict began in the wake of the October 7 Hamas terror attack that killed about 1,200 Israelis.
The number comes from 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 taken place on college campuses, resulting in mass arrests.
Meanwhile, Republicans have attacked the Biden administration for blocking the shipment of bombs.
On Sunday, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham went on a tirade over the break after Meet the Press host Kristen Welker pointed out that Republican President Ronald Reagan had taken a similar step in 1982 over fears that Israel would use US-made weapons against the Palestinian civilian population. .
Welker told Graham, “Well, historians would say, ‘Why is it OK for Reagan to do it and not President Biden?’” — a question that startled the Republican senator.
“Well, why is it okay? Can I say this?’ Graham said, when Welker interrupted. Why is it okay for America to drop two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end their existential threat war? Why did we think it was okay to do that? I thought it was okay.”
“For Israel: do what you have to do to survive as a Jewish state,” he said.
Welker again pointed out that senior military officials have said technology has changed.
“Yes, those military officials you’re talking about are full of nonsense,” Graham snapped.