Sen. Chris Coons (D-Delaware), co-chair of the Biden 2024 campaign, said on CNN Thursday that he wants the U.S. to attach conditions to military aid to Israel.
Host Sarah Sidner said, “You spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The president spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. At what point do you change course? You substitute words for carrots. , do you support a change in policy instead of the whip that Israel has to change its tact to get military aid? When will that happen?
Mr. Koons said: What President Biden has said, what I’ve said, and what others have said, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders the IDF to make a large-scale invasion of Rafah, they will drop thousands of pounds of bombs. I think we’re at the point where we’re going to be dropping weapons and sending weapons. If the battalion were to attack Hamas and not provide any civilian or humanitarian aid, I would vote for the terms of aid to Israel. ”
And he said, “I’ve never said that before!” I’ve never been here before. I have been a strong supporter of Israel throughout my time in Congress. We just appropriated an additional $3.3 billion in aid in our last spending bill. The challenge is that while we support the people of Israel and we want and will continue to maintain a strong and close relationship with Israel, the tactics with which the current Prime Minister is making these decisions do not support the people of Israel. It is important to make it clear that this is not reflected. The highest values of Israel or the United States. ”
Sydnor asked. “Things have gotten really bad. Are you the first to say you’re going to put conditions on military aid?”
“I’m obviously speaking for myself,” Coons said. “If they want civilians to continue to fight Hamas, to continue to do targeted raids, small-scale counterterrorism attacks, or special forces raids. I think that’s an acceptable part of continuing their operations against Hamas if they continue large-scale military operations in Rafah without providing any kind of provision for the IDF. They just demonstrated this a few weeks ago by escorting a convoy of trucks through a new opening in Gaza’s northernmost security perimeter. It is the far north of Gaza, where the IDF has the most control, where hunger is highest and where the urgency is greatest. Hopefully we can move forward.”
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