WASHINGTON – President Biden said Wednesday that “I will not supply weapons” to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he proceeds with a full-scale assault on the Hamas-controlled city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip.
“I believe that if they enter Rafah, they have not entered Rafah yet, but even if they enter Rafah, I will deal with the city to deal with Rafah. We’ve made it clear that we’re not going to supply weapons that have been used historically. We need to address that issue,” Biden told CNN’s Erin Burnett in a rare sit-down interview.
The 81-year-old president’s threat came after days of concealment by the White House over reports that the administration had halted shipments of at least one powerful precision bomb, but Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday that In his first Congressional testimony, he admitted that he had “suspended.”
Biden has been warning Israel for weeks against attacking Hamas’s last major stronghold, and reiterated that message in a call to Israeli government leaders on Monday.
More than one million displaced Gazans are believed to live in and around Rafah.
Biden told Barnett that the weapons denied to Israel could extend to include artillery shells.
“Civilians are being killed in Gaza by bombs and other means aimed at populated areas,” Biden said.
“That’s just wrong. We’re not going to supply the weapons or shells we use.”
He added: [Netanyahu] And if the War Cabinet were to actually advance into these densely populated areas, they would not be able to receive our support.
But Biden said he would “continue to ensure Israel’s security in terms of Iron Dome and our ability to respond to attacks like the ones that have recently come out of the Middle East.”
The president is regularly heckled by anti-Israel demonstrators dubbed “Massacre Joe,” accusing Israel of doing too little to prevent the killing of civilians and aid workers in the Gaza Strip. , has been criticizing Israel for months.
But on Tuesday, Biden gave a pro-Israel speech at an event commemorating the Holocaust, saying protesters were “forgetting” that Hamas started the war on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 Israelis. said.
“Too many people [are] It denies trivializing, justifying, or ignoring the Holocaust and the horrors of October 7, including Hamas’ horrific use of sexual violence to torture and terrorize Jews. This is absolutely despicable behavior and it must stop,” he said in a speech.
Opinion polls show that Biden’s re-election is at risk due to a backlash against his pro-Israel stance from key Democratic constituencies, including young voters, Arab Americans and Muslim Americans.
Prime Minister Netanyahu pushed back against Biden’s growing criticism.
“If Israel is forced into isolation, Israel will become isolated,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said in a defiant speech Sunday at Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial.
“Eighty years ago, during the Holocaust, the Jewish people were completely defenseless against those who sought our destruction. No country came to our aid. Today we are once again seeking our destruction. We are facing the enemy,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said.
“I say to world leaders: No amount of pressure, no decision in any international forum, can stop us from defending Israel…We will defeat our genocidal enemy.”
“‘Never again’ is now.”
