Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) dismissed the idea that the countless campus protests happening across the United States are influencing President Joe Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza, calling such a notion “ridiculous.”
Biden signaled on Wednesday the United States would not provide Israel with bombs and artillery shells if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decides to invade Rafah, Gaza. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) reacted to the news on social media by writing that this announcement had been what “young people across the country were protesting for,” and that “the arc of what is possible is always within us to bend.”
“Yeah, absolutely not,” Smith said on Fox News Sunday. “I mean, it’s a ridiculous assertion. What incentivized the president’s decision was two things. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which you described, I think, quite well in the opening to this. And second, the fact that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has no plan for what’s going to happen in Gaza going forward.”
Smith also knocked the idea that Biden is not supporting Israel, arguing that the U.S. has been giving weapons to the country since the Oct. 7 attack. He added that he was with Biden at a recent event, where the president stated that the war in Gaza could end should Hamas choose to release its hostages.
Regarding Netanyahu’s leadership, Smith said that the Israeli prime minister is leading the country down “a path of endless war, conflict, and no peace.” However, he denied wanting to join a call by some Democratic lawmakers to have Netanyahu removed from a position of leadership, arguing that such a call is “up to the Israeli people.”
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Protests across the country have been held across college campuses since last month, all of which have been in support of Palestine. Police officers arrested 33 protesters who refused to clear the area on the University of Pennsylvania’s campus, even after their belongings and tents had been thrown away early Friday.
On Wednesday, several House Republicans, led by Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN), introduced the Study Abroad Act that would send anti-Israel protesters and others to Gaza or cancel visas if they are convicted of a crime on a college campus. The bill would cancel visas for those who have been arrested “for rioting or unlawful protest” or for establishing, participating, or promoting an encampment on college campuses since Oct. 7.
