The Biden administration last week put a hold on a shipment of U.S.-made ammunition to Israel, two Israeli officials told Axios.
Why it matters: It is the first time since the Oct. 7 attack that the U.S. has stopped a weapons shipment intended for the Israeli military. The incident raised serious concerns inside the Israeli government and sent officials scrambling to understand why the shipment was held, Israeli officials said. President Biden is facing sharp criticism among Americans who oppose his support of Israel. The administration in February asked Israel to provide assurances that U.S.-made weapons were being used by Israel Defense Forces in Gaza in accordance with international law. Israel provided a signed letter of assurances in March.
The other commenter didn’t say that, but also, shouldn’t we be pleased that a politician, the literal President of the United States, is buckling to public pressure here? Isn’t that the whole point of democracy is that they are supposed to represent the will of the people? That he is doing this in spite of his own personal interest is pretty amazing and stark compared to Trump.
I think we should take wins like this seriously, the system is working as it should for a brief moment here. Progress takes time, let’s celebrate how quickly an 81 year old man is changing course on something lol
Hard to celebrate anything with so much money stolen from the American people and so many Palestinians dead.
This is shameful and the fact that Trump is worse is no excuse, raise your expectations. There are ongoing protests being violently repressed and all Biden has to say about it is “law and order”, wake up.
That is very clearly not all he has to say, he has just now interrupted a 50-year supply of military arms to an ally, for the first time ever as far as I am aware. They’re building a literal seaport for aid delivery. The president often can’t unilaterally make decisions, much of the funding especially for Israel is packaged into bills made by Congress, that are usually a small part of a larger budget.
The protests are working, as intended. The government is changing their tune, as intended. Maybe I am awake, maybe you’re the one who’s asleep. Maybe not. In my eyes though this is how democracy has always worked. You argue until the other side is convinced, which we are in the middle of doing and succeeding at.
You equated Biden and Trump. We have their two presidencies to refer to now, we don’t have to guess, and they look and sound a lot different on Israel to me. We’ll see what Biden does if they invade Rafah.
You sure about that?
How about that 1 billion weapons package Biden is pushing now? How is that red line he had working out?
Hi there. I did some reading on the deal and I’m not very happy they’re rolling out this package, I was hoping they would be more firm. However it looks like, should this deal go through, the equipment won’t be delivered for at least 2-3 years according to the AP. In that regard I do feel hopeful that Israel won’t be able to use these items against the people of Gaza, provided they can come to some sort of ceasefire.
If we’re still examining this in the context of the election, I don’t believe this is enough cause for me to vote for Trump or another party. The Republicans want to nuke Gaza, so my perspective is that we have to do what we can to ensure the least harm possible comes to civilians, which means preventing them from leading our government. I don’t see another candidate who will be both able to defeat Trump and to single-handedly shift the US foreign policy apparatus, but I am all ears if that person does exist and I’ve just missed them somehow.
Oh there is no other option, but that wasn’t my point. Republicans extremism allows the Democrats to continue to fail the American people in a ratchet effect. It’s a slow slide into Fascism instead of a fast one. Isreal has been killing the Palestinian people and forcing them to seek asylum since the country’s inception. Weapons to Isreal are weapons to kill the native population, it’s what colonizers do.
Allowing lip service to pacify the publics awareness only plays into their favor. That is my point. Don’t make excuses for them.
Not only did I not make excuses for them but I agreed with you in that it’s a bad deal. I’m not sure you need to remind anyone that Israel is killing Palestinian people in a thread about Israel killing Palestinian people.
I was just saying that the current administration is behaving differently than the previous ones, albeit not by much.