CNN
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President Joe Biden is facing backlash from lawmakers in both parties following his ultimatum that a major Israeli offensive in the city of Rafah would result in a shutdown of some U.S. weapons.
Biden’s decision to go public with the ultimatum in an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett last week was met Sunday with harsh criticism from across the Republican spectrum and deep concern among Democrats.
“On the one hand, they say that too many Palestinian civilians have been killed. On the other hand, they deprive us of precision-guided weapons that actually reduce civilian casualties,” Republican Sen. JD Vance of Ohio told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.” although Biden specifically mentioned withholding bombs and artillery shells deemed by the administration to be indiscriminate and inaccurate.
“So if you’re worried about Palestinian casualties, the stated policy here actually doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Vance said.
The United States is also exploring the possibility of selling or transferring other munitions, including Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) kits, to Israel. But those transfers are not imminent and could take place in the future, a U.S. official said.
The president’s announcement last week marked a turning point in U.S.-Israeli relations since Israel’s seven-month conflict with Hamas began in October. Still, the president’s aides said the message should not have come as a surprise to its recipients in Israel, given repeated warnings to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Earlier this month, Biden approved a pause on 3,500 bombs to Israel that administration officials feared could be dropped on Rafah – where Israel has issued evacuation orders for some of the 1.4 millions of civilians sheltering there, while it seems ready to continue its progression. the city in southern Gaza.
And last week, Biden told Burnett that if Israel enters Rafah, “I will not provide the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities – that are facing this problem.”
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina called the ultimatum “the worst decision in the history of U.S.-Israel relations.” A frequent critic of the White House, Graham called on the Biden administration to “keep the arms flowing” and sit down with Israel.
Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott, meanwhile, told Fox News on Sunday that Biden’s decision sends “a horrible message to Israel” and said the president is “unfortunately now part of the pro-Hamas wing of his side “.
But the backlash was not limited to partisan lines.
On Friday, a group of 26 House Democrats sent a letter to Biden saying they were “deeply concerned about the message the administration is sending to Hamas and other Iranian-backed terrorist proxies by withholding shipments of arms to Israel.
The group of House Democrats, led by Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, also requested a White House briefing to get more information about Biden’s decision, as well as how and when the Congressional aid to Israel will be provided.
Democratic Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, however, emphasized the type of weapons withheld. “The president was not as clear about this in the Erin Burnett interview as he should have been,” he said on Fox News on Sunday, adding: “Everything that has been retained so far, they are 2,000 pound stupid bombs because the president believes – and I think rightly – they should not be used at Rafah.
Other Democrats offered more forceful defenses of Biden, who reached his ultimatum after several rounds of phone calls with Netanyahu, starting in mid-February.
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut told Bash in a separate “State of the Union” interview that Biden was “learning from the mistakes of the U.S. military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
“What we learned in these two efforts is that you cannot defeat terrorist ideology. You cannot defeat a terrorist movement,” he said.
The president, Murphy said, “is telling the Israelis that we will be partners, but you have to understand the rate of civilian casualties, the scale of the disaster that in the long run is going to make Hamas stronger, will make it more likely that Israel will be attacked again and this will strengthen other terrorist organizations that plan to attack the United States.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that the United States believes Israel has killed more civilians than Hamas terrorists in its war in Gaza, and that Israel must do more to mitigate the numbers. civilian deaths.
“Although Israel has processes, procedures, rules and regulations to try to minimize harm to civilians, given the impact that this operation, this war in Gaza has had on the civilian population, these- “They have not been applied consistently and effectively,” Blinken said on CBS. “ “Face the nation. ”
The Gaza Health Ministry reported on Sunday that the number of people killed in the enclave as a result of Israeli military operations exceeded 35,000.
Last week, the State Department released a report saying it is “reasonable to assess” that U.S. weapons were used by Israeli forces in Gaza in a manner “inconsistent” with international humanitarian law, but did not officially declare that Israel had violated the law.
Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland told CBS’ Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation” that “I think there’s enough on the books to be able to point to specific cases and make specific decisions.” And on this point, the administration has avoided the difficult questions.”
Pressed on whether he fears the report helped provide political cover for Netanyahu to continue his deadly strikes in Israel, Van Hollen said he fears the administration has not provided “an unvarnished account.” facts and the law.
The report does not reveal that Israel withheld humanitarian aid to Gaza in violation of international law, despite conflicting reports.
“By not calling it out categorically and saying that arbitrary restrictions have been placed on humanitarian aid, I fear we have set a very, very low bar, a very low standard for what is acceptable,” Van said Hollen. “And I think it will come back to haunt us.”
Murphy said the report “could have gone further,” but added that it “accurately explains the complexity of the situation.” And let’s be clear about this too. Yes, I believe that the Israeli army has made very disastrous decisions regarding proportionality.
Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, defending Biden from Van Hollen’s criticism of the State Department report, said. “I think President Biden has taken strong action – so much so that his recent public statement has received a lot of backlash.”
This story has been updated with additional context.
CNN’s Kit Maher, Aileen Graef, Kevin Liptak, Jennifer Hansler and Kylie Atwood contributed to this report.
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