Holocaust Remembrance: Biden Regime Halts Weapons to Israel

The Biden regime has put a hold on a shipment of American-made ammunition to Israel instead of putting pressure on Hamas to surrender and release the American and Israeli hostages….

Opinion: Biden’s Worst Mistake of the Gaza War

White House halts arms transfers to Israel – report

By: World Israel News, May 5, 2024

A First: US halts planned arms shipment to Israel, raising concerns in Israel.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

The Biden administration has frozen a planned arms shipment to Israel, according to a report Sunday, raising concerns among Israeli leaders of a major shift in American policy vis-a-vis the Jewish state.

Two Israeli officials told Axios and Walla that the Biden White House last week froze a weapons shipment to Israel, which includes ammunition and other American-made arms.

If confirmed, this marks the first time the U.S. has suspended arms shipments to Israel since Hamas’ October 7th invasion of the Jewish state.

According to the report, the White House, Pentagon, and State Department all declined to comment, as did the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.

The report comes as Israel reiterates its plans to enter Rafah, the last Hamas stronghold in the Gaza Strip, despite staunch opposition from the Biden White House, which claims Israel does not yet have an actionable plan to protect Gaza civilians.

Last week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi.

During his visit, Blinken conveyed to Israeli leaders the White House’s continued opposition to the planned Rafah operation as it is currently drafted, including a conversation with Netanyahu which two sources described as “tough.”

Blinken warned Netanyahu that a “major military operation” in Rafah would jeopardize Israel’s relations with the U.S.

On Sunday, Netanyahu issued a statement marking Holocaust Remembrance Day in which he vowed Israel would “stand alone” if necessary.

“In the terrible Holocaust, there were great world leaders who stood by idly; therefore, the first lesson of the Holocaust is: If we do not defend ourselves, nobody will defend us. And if we need to stand alone, we will stand alone,” he said.

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The Wall Street Journal Editorial board:

President Biden is desperate to end the Israel-Hamas war, starting with the cease-fire the Administration has been trying to broker. Hamas has refused so far, and now the Administration is squeezing Israel even harder to abandon its plan to take Hamas’s last Gaza stronghold in the city of Rafah.

That’s the meaning of the Axios report on Sunday that the U.S. put a hold last week on a shipment of U.S.-made weapons to Israel. The dispatch by reporter Barak Ravid cites two Israeli sources, adding that the White House and other parts of the U.S. government declined to comment. The fact that the U.S. didn’t deny the report is telling. The Israelis view Mr. Ravid as the Biden Administration’s preferred media conduit for its leaks about U.S. policy on the Israel and Gaza conflict.

The news arrives as the U.S. is working with Qatar and Egypt to persuade Hamas to agree to the latest offer of a cease-fire in exchange for releasing some hostages. CIA director William Burns was in Cairo on the weekend to meet with Arab negotiators. We’re told that Hamas hasn’t budged on its negotiating demands, which include a permanent end to the war, not merely a cease-fire.

Perhaps the weapons delay was intended as a message to Hamas that the U.S. is willing to arm-twist Israel to stop the Rafah campaign. But that’s the diplomatic logic that has kept the war going as long as it has since Oct. 7. Israel’s government can’t end the war with Hamas’s military brigades intact, and that means going into Rafah, as difficult as it may be.

The U.S. should be putting pressure on Hamas to surrender and release the hostages. The more Hamas thinks it might be saved by U.S. pressure on Israel, the less likely Hamas is to agree to a cease-fire. That’s a recipe for extending the war for several more weeks, or longer.

Mr. Biden’s strategy of pressuring Israel to make concessions that its government and citizens are united against hasn’t worked. It hasn’t won concessions from Hamas and its allies in Iran and Lebanon. And it hasn’t tamed the anti-Israel protests in the U.S. that threaten his re-election.

Mr. Biden was in a stronger position, politically and strategically, when he spoke with moral clarity about Hamas and in support of Israel after Oct. 7. The fastest way to end the war is with an Israeli victory, and withholding weapons is exactly the wrong message to send an ally under siege.
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