House Republicans are poised to vote on legislation condemning President Joe Biden for his threats to withhold weapons shipments to Israel, accusing the president of mishandling the U.S. response to the war in Gaza and abandoning one of the country’s key allies.
The House is set to vote on a resolution this week decrying Biden’s “dangerous hold” on weapons to Israel while also proposing to withhold funds from the secretaries of State and Defense as well as the National Security Council until the materials are delivered. The resolution comes as Republicans in both the House and the Senate have denounced Biden for his response to the war and accused him of walking back his previous stance to support Israel to appease those on the far Left.
“It is not President Biden’s job to dictate to Israel how they should go about defending their right to exist and deterring violence against their people,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) wrote in a newsletter Sunday evening. “House Republicans stand unequivocally with Israel in its war against terrorists and those that threaten its freedom.”
The resolution comes in direct response to comments Biden made last week in which he said he would stop providing artillery shells and other weapons to Israel if it invaded the city of Rafah, where millions of Palestinians have sought refuge during the war. The threat marks the first time the Biden administration has publicly threatened a halt in supplying weapons to the country.
The threat sparked an immediate backlash from Republicans, with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) telling Politico he hoped the president was just having a “senior moment.”
“And my reaction honestly was: Wow, that is a complete turn from what I have been told even in, you know, recent hours,” Johnson told the outlet. “I mean, 24 hours ago it was confirmed to me by top administration officials that the policy’s very different than what he stated there. So I hope that’s a senior moment.”
However, Biden administration officials defended the comments — prompting criticism from GOP lawmakers who said the president had shifted his opinion to appease progressive Democrats who oppose the shipments.
Republican leaders pointed to the $26.38 billion aid package Congress passed last month to go to the Jewish state, which Biden supported and signed into law. That package included funds to replenish the country’s Iron Dome and David’s Sling missile defense systems as well as $3.5 billion to go toward securing advanced weapons systems and other defense services.
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“Last week, however, President Biden threatened to withhold weapons and munitions from Israel if they entered Rafah, a major Hamas stronghold in Gaza, in order to appease radical leftists and pro-Palestine activists,” Scalise wrote. “This is unacceptable. … We must hold the President accountable for his dangerous intimidation tactics that put the safety of our ally and the Israeli people at risk by emboldening Hamas.”
Biden has received backlash from some corners of his own party over the war in Gaza, with a growing number of Democratic voters in blue states casting their votes as “uncommitted” in protest. If those efforts persist into the general election, it could spell trouble for Biden as he prepares to face Trump in what is expected to be a tight race.
