Pres. Joe Biden is getting criticism from both sides of the fence on Capitol Hill for issuing his "ultimatum" on Israel, where he said that a major offensive of the Israeli government in Rafah would lead to a halt in the supply of U.S. weapons into the country.
In an interview with Erin Burnett of CNN, Biden swiftly faced backlash from both Democrat and Republican lawmakers.
Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio)p pointed out an incoherence in the stance of the President, saying that there is a contradiction to his actions. According to Vance, the concern of the President for Palestinian civilian qualities seemed to run contrary to withholding weapons that were designed to lessen the number of the said casualties, referring to precision guided weapons.
According to Vance, the abovementioned weapons cut down on civilian casualties. However, the President specifically mentioned the kind of weapons that would be withheld by the U.S. Biden said that those deemed to be imprecise and indiscriminate like bombs and artillery shells are to be withheld.
"On the one hand, they're saying too many Palestinian civilians have been killed. With the other hand, they're depriving us of the precision-guided weapons that actually cut down on civilian casualties," Vance said.
"So if you're worried about Palestinian casualties, the stated policy here actually doesn't make a ton of sense," he added.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) described Biden's ultimatum as "the worst decision in the history of the US-Israel relationship." Graham then urged the President to sit down with Israel and to simply keep the munitions flowing into the war-torn country.
CNN reported that a US official also mentioned that the US is reviewing the possibility of selling or transferring other munitions. One of those that are being reviewed include the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) kits.
During the interview, Biden told Burnett that he was not supplying the weapons to Israel, which were used historically to deal with Rafah.
Another Republican senator expressed similar sentiment as that of Graham and Vance. Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) told Fox News that the decision of Biden was sending a horrible message to Israel. He also said that Biden is now "unfortunately, now part of the pro-Hamas wing of his party."
Aside from Republicans, a significant number of House Democrats also expressed concern over the ultimatum of Biden. Twenty-six House Democrats sent a letter to the President reflecting such a sentiment. They said that they were "deeply concerned about the message the Administration is sending to Hamas and other Iranian-backed terrorist proxies by withholding weapons shipments to Israel."
Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, however, emphasized the specific kinds of weapons that the US withheld. Accordingly, he said, "All that has been held back to date are dumb, 2,000-pound bombs because the president feels – and I think rightly – they should not be used in Rafah."
