There must be ‘no daylight between Israel and the U.S.’: Mass. Rep. Auchincloss says
With President Joe Biden facing heat from the left and right for his threat to withhold offensive weapons from Israel, one Massachusetts lawmaker has some advice for the White House.
In a post to X, formerly Twitter, U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss said “there must be no daylight between Israel and the United States on security,” as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyau’s government gears up for a possible all-out assault on Rafah in the Gaza Strip.
“For Israel, U.S. materiel is necessary to dismantle Hamas, a barbaric terrorist cult that won’t honor a ceasefire, and to deter attacks from other terrorist groups,” Auchincloss, D-4th District, who is Jewish, and a staunch defender of Israel, wrote in a lengthy statement.
Biden, in an interview with CNN on Wednesday, said that the U.S. was still committed to Israel’s defense and would supply Iron Dome rocket interceptors and other defensive arms but that if Israel goes into Rafah, the last major Hamas stronghold, “we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells used,” in such an incursion, the Associated Press reported.
Biden acknowledged that “civilians have been killed in Gaza” by the type of heavy bombs that the U.S. has been supplying -- his first validation of what administration critics have been loudly protesting, even if he still stopped short of taking responsibility.
Biden’s threat to hold up artillery shells expanded on earlier revelations that the U.S. was going to pause a shipment of heavy bombs, the AP reported.
The White House’s announcement raised alarms in Israel, which is still reeling more than seven months after a Hamas sneak attack claimed the lives of 1,160 people, mostly civilians, and saw hundreds more taken hostage.
Israel’s counterattack, meanwhile, has seen 34,844 Palestinians killed, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilian and combatant casualties.
“If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone,” Netanyahu said in a video message for Israel’s Independence Day on Thursday, the Washington Post reported.
The Democratic president’s pronouncement earned him a rebuke from both his right and left flanks, with lawmakers pointing out the recent, overwhelmingly bipartisan vote to approve billions of dollars in foreign aid to Israel.
U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., said in a Thursday statement that he was “deeply concerned” about the decision “as well as the President’s comments about withholding security assistance to Israel,” according to Axios.
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., teamed up on a letter demanding details about the decision by week’s end, Axios further reported.
In his Thursday statement, Auchincloss urged Biden and Netanyahu to take several steps to ease the strain between the two countries, including “[offering] an actionable plan for governance in Gaza that ensures Israeli security and Palestinian humanitarian needs.”
“Tensions between friends must not become an opening for enemies,” Auchincloss said.
By: John L. Micek
Source: MassLive