The Biden administration is dragging its feet on some military aid to Israel, according to a new report.
Israel “might lose this war,” a senior Israeli official said, according to ABC, noting that ammunition and support are required to win its war against Hamas, and both are in short supply.
Ammunition shipments at the start of the war, launched when Hamas terrorists slaughtered Israeli civilians, “were coming very fast,” the official who was not named by ABC said, but “we are now finding that it’s very slow.”
U.S. officials denied there was an intentional effort to delay aid.
“I’m not gonna get into the timeline for every individual system that’s being provided,” White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said. “We continue to support Israel with their self-defense needs. That’s not going to change, and we have been very, very direct about that.”
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However, there is no doubt that a chilly wind is blowing from Washington toward the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Relations between President Joe Biden and Netanyahu have been fraying for months.
The Economist noted that Biden is politically vulnerable to pressure to distance himself from Israel as he faces re-election.
“There is not really a path that does not go through Michigan. And there is not really a path that goes through Michigan without the Muslim community,” Hira Khan of Emgage, a group designed to mobilize Muslim voters, said. Democrats have been voting “uncommitted” in recent primaries to show their dissatisfaction with Biden’s support for Israel.
That support could be eroding.
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Politico reported earlier this week that if Israel invades Rafah, a city in southern Gaza that is the last major holdout for Hamas terrorists, the Biden administration might impose limits or conditions on future aid.
This could be soon. On Friday, the Times of Israel reported that Netanyahu has approved plans to invade the city near the Gaza-Egyptian border.
Meanwhile, the Netanyahu administration took a one-two punch from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Biden.
“I believe a new election is the only way to allow for a healthy and open decision-making process about the future of Israel,” the Jewish Democrat from New York said Thursday, according to Time.
Netanyahu, “has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel,” he said.
Biden later praised Schumer.
“He made a good speech,” Biden said Friday, according to the Times of Israel.
“He expressed serious concerns, shared not only by him but by many Americans,” he said, adding that his staff were notified about the speech in advance by Schumer’s office.
Time noted that Netanyahu has said he will defy Biden if necessary to crush Hamas.
“You know, I have a red line. You know what the red line is? That October 7 doesn’t happen again,” he said.
