President Joe Biden cut off ammunition supplies to Israel in an apparent response to pro-Hamas protests occurring on college campuses and in Democrat-led cities across the country.
Citing two unnamed Israeli military officials, Axios reported that the U.S. blocked an ammo shipment to Israeli forces, the first time such a thing had happened since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that murdered more than 1,200 Jews in Israel, including at least 31 Americans.
“The incident raised serious concerns inside the Israeli government and sent officials scrambling to understand why the shipment was held, Israeli officials said,” Axios reported.
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Axios added that Biden and his advisers are “highly concerned” about Israel invading the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Rafah is the final stronghold of Hamas forces, and also the site where more than 1 million Palestinians have been holed up since the war forced them from their homes.
The arms shipment was also blocked just as Secretary of State Antony Blinken had visited Israel and informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Biden and the U.S. would publicly oppose America’s ally conducting “a major military operation” in Rafah and that such an invasion also would “negatively impact” U.S.-Israeli relations, Axios added.
Netanyahu on Sunday, which was Holocaust Remembrance Day, noted in a statement, “In the terrible Holocaust, there were great world leaders who stood by idly; therefore, the first lesson of the Holocaust is: If we do not defend ourselves, nobody will defend us. And if we need to stand alone, we will stand alone.”
Biden, despite his repeated efforts to appease pro-Hamas protesters across the nation and pressure Israel into a ceasefire against one of the region’s most prominent and violent terrorist groups, finally condemned for the first time the campus tent cities and demonstrations last week.
“Destroying property is not a peaceful protest,” Biden said Thursday, according to Time magazine.
“It is against the law. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations, none of this is a peaceful protest.”
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Still, Biden’s reaction to Israel last week is the polar opposite of the support he has shown for Ukraine, which was also attacked by a violent neighbor.
The Democratic president has continually lobbied for and approved a nearly open-ended flow of weapons and aid to Ukraine, a nation where his son Hunter was once intensely involved with shady business deals.
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