Rep. Elise Stefanik reprimands Biden, praises Trump in speech to Israeli parliament

Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, the highest-ranking Republican woman in the House, rebuked President Biden and praised former President Trump for U.S. military support for Israel in a speech to her House on Sunday.

“There is no excuse for a US president to block aid to Israel – aid that has been duly approved by Congress, or to ease sanctions on Iran, paying a $6 billion ransom dollars to the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, or to procrastinate and hide while our friends fight for their lives,” said the New York congresswoman and House GOP conference chair.

Earlier this month, acknowledging that the United States had suspended sending 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, Mr. Biden said the The United States would not supply Israel with weapons for an offensive in Rafah, and he acknowledged that Israel used powerful American-made weapons in deadly attacks in Gaza. He suggested that the United States would further reduce its arms shipments if Israel expanded its ground offensive to include civilian population centers in the southern Gaza town of Rafah.

However, Mr. Biden also said that the United States would continue to provide defensive military aid to Israel, and the White House said that the United States would ensure that Israel received the full amount promised under ‘a recently signed supplemental funding package that includes approximately $14. billion for the defense of Israel. And last week, the Biden administration informed Congress that it intended to transfer $1 billion in weapons to Israel.

Recalling a letter from George Washington written to Jews in Newport, Rhode Island, Stefanik said Americans were “firmly behind Israel and the Jewish people.”

Stefanik noted that “for years, I have been a leading supporter and partner of President Trump in his historic support for the independence and security of Israel.” She is a close ally of Trump and was among the first to support his 2024 presidential bid. Sources told CBS News that Trump considered her a potential vice presidential candidate.

In congressional hearings Late last year, Stefanik pressed the presidents of Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania about anti-Semitism on their campuses. Shortly after, two of the presidents resigned.

“We must not let extremism among the ‘elites’ mask the American people’s deep and abiding love for Israel. Most Americans feel a strong connection to your people,” Stefanik told Knesset members.

Nikole Killion contributed to this report.