A White House official has slammed Republican senator JD Vance for spreading “shameful lies” that US taxpayer dollars had funded a wave of unprecedented attacks by Palestinian militants that have claimed at least 200 Israeli lives.
Top Republicans sought to blame the Biden administration for Hamas’ deadly raids by linking it to the $6bn in frozen oil profits that were released to Iran in August for humanitarian purposes in exchange for the release of five Americans who were detained in the country.
Iran has historically provided weapons and funding to Hamas, a militant group that controls Gaza and has claimed responsibility for the deadly wave of rocket attacks, killings and kidnappings that sparked a declaration of war by Israel on Saturday.
Mr Vance, a first-term Ohio senator, repeated false claims by Florida governor Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump who claimed without evidence that the US had funded the wave of attacks on Israel.
“As we watch this horrible situation in Israel unfold, Americans must face a stark truth: our tax dollars funded this,” Mr Vance wrote on X/Twitter.
“Money is fungible, and many of the dollars we sent to Iran are being used to now kill innocent people.”
White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates responded by accusing the senator of fuelling misinformation.
Mr Bates wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that no taxpayer money was involved in the Iran deal, none of the $6bn had been spent yet, and that the funds could only be used by private actors to “provably buy food and medicine”.
Ohio senator JD Vance was accused of spreading ‘shameless lies’ about US taxpayers funding Hamas— (Associated Press)
Mr Bates tweeted: “Shameful lies when supporting Israel should be the focus.”
Senator Vance responded to criticism of his comments online by saying it was “complete idiocy” to believe that the unfrozen funds would be used solely for humanitarian purposes.
The deal to release $6bn in Iranian oil profits led to the release of five US citizens in August.
“We didn’t give them money we just unfroze their money.”
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) October 7, 2023
“They promised they’d only spend it on humanitarian supplies. I’m sure they’re very trustworthy.”
“I’ll ignore the $400m pallet of cash delivered by the last Democrat administration.”
Complete idiocy. https://t.co/3sa1RFHMRX
Under its terms, the Iranian assets were to be placed into a bank account controlled by the Qatari government that could only be accessed to pay for humanitarian items such as food and medicine.
Addressing the escalating crisis on Saturday afternoon, President Joe Biden warned other countries and terror groups from trying to take advantage of the situation by siding with Hamas.
“Let me say this is clearly as I can, this is not a moment for any party hostile to Israel to exploit these attacks to seek advantage. The world is watching,” Mr Biden said.
“The United States stands with Israel. We will not ever fail to have their back.”
A rescuer walks in front of a damaged shop in Tel Aviv, after it was hit by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip— (AFP via Getty Images)
Earlier, GOP presidential frontrunner Mr Trump claimed that “American taxpayer dollars (had) helped fund these attacks” in a statement.
And Mr DeSantis, who is running a distant second to Mr Trump in the primary, echoed the baseless claims during a campaign stop in Iowa.
“Today, America stands with Israel against the terrorist attacks that are being perpetrated by Hamas, who is backed by Iran and unfortunately funded by this American president with what he’s done to Iran,” Mr DeSantis said.
Local media report that over 200 Israelis have been killed and 1,100 have been injured in the surprise early morning attack – making it the deadliest attack in Israel in years. An unknown number of Israeli soldiers and civilians were also taken captive and brought into Gaza.
Israel have now retaliated to the attacks. 232 Palestinians have been killed and at least 1,610 wounded in Israel’s retaliation, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
