Lindsey Graham says he trusts Israel more than Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R.S.C.) has more confidence in Israel than Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin as the Biden administration has warned it will stop sending weapons if Israel invades Rafah said.

“First of all, I trust Israel more than Austin. He still said [the] “Leaving Afghanistan was a good idea,” Graham said at a news conference Thursday. “The bottom line is there’s a lot at stake here.”

Graham spoke about years of negotiating efforts between Saudi Arabia and Israel and said President Biden’s threat to withhold weapons from Israel could undermine potential stability in the Middle East.

“Mr. President, if you don’t change your mind, I think this region and the world will reconsider their future relationship with us,” he said. Highlighted by Mediaite.

This is not the first time Mr. Graham has criticized Mr. Lloyd and the Biden administration’s Israeli tactics. In December, he accused Austin of being “naive” and said he risked a “strategic defeat” if Israel did not protect civilians in the Gaza Strip, adding that he had lost confidence in the Pentagon chief.

The senator’s latest message follows Biden’s declaration warning the Israel Defense Forces that it will stop supplying it with bombs, artillery shells and other offensive weapons if it moves forward with an invasion of Rafah, the southern city of Gaza where hundreds of thousands of people have fled. It follows. .

Biden said Wednesday that civilians were being killed in Gaza “as a result of bombs” and said the United States had “made clear” that it would not supply weapons if Israel entered Rafah.

Graham on Thursday also emphasized efforts to negotiate “an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict” and isolate Iran while finding “a better, more hopeful future for the Palestinian people.”

“Mr. President, if we don’t change this policy, we will ruin our last best chance to bring lasting stability to the Middle East for generations,” Graham warned. “Saudi Arabia is watching.”