Israel is angry about Biden’s threat to use weapons in the Rafah attack

Israel responded with a mixture of concern and anger Thursday to warn President Joe Biden that he would abolish guns US allies military if it proceeds with a large-scale attack on Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than a million Palestinians are seeking refuge.

The threat that marked a Change in Washington’s public approach to the war, came after the Biden administration halted a bomb shipment last week over concerns about Israel’s plans to invade Rafah Even if the ceasefire talks with Hamas continue. Biden’s decision follows months of growing tensions between the US and Israel – whose militaries have long supplied them with weapons – and domestic pressure on the president to take a tougher line.

Israeli officials appeared to have little doubt that the fallout could have far-reaching consequences.

The country’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, said the U.S. pause was “a very disappointing decision, even frustrating.” In an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 television, he suggested that the move was due to pressure Biden was feeling from protests both in Congress and on college campuses.

“Israel will continue to fight Hamas until its destruction,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in an apparent response to Biden’s threat on X. “There is no just war like this.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to comment directly on Biden’s comments, but he spoke out Thursday afternoon reposted a video

Meanwhile, members of his far-right government were quick to express outrage at the threat.

Right-wing National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir gave a brief but scathing response in a post on X. “Hamas ❤️ Biden,” he said. His office did not immediately respond to a request from NBC News for further comment.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who leads the ultranationalist Religious Zionist Party, accused Biden speaks of an “arms embargo” and writes in a thread on X that Israel “would achieve a complete victory in this war despite President Biden’s opposition.”

“We simply have no choice as this war is existential and anything other than a complete victory would jeopardize the existence of the Jewish state,” Smotrich said.

The country’s president, Isaac Herzog, tried to temper the backlash with comments that appeared to admonish right-wing ministers.

He thanked Biden for being a “great friend of the State of Israel” and said: “Even when there are disagreements and moments of disappointment between friends and allies, there is a way to resolve the differences, and we are all on board with it.” obligated.” Avoid baseless, irresponsible and offensive statements and tweets that harm the national security and interests of the State of Israel.”

However, Israeli military experts also expressed concerns about Biden’s announcement.

Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies, said he had “difficulty understanding Biden’s approach.”

“He is committed to Israel’s security by delivering Iron Dome and Arrow interceptors … but not sophisticated 2,000-pound bombs that would allow the IDF to attack Hamas,” he told NBC News. “What does that mean?”

“Israel may only defend itself from its soil by intercepting missiles, but it may not defend itself by attacking the source and generators of terrorism in Gaza or elsewhere,” Michael said Wednesday morning.

In a telephone interview on Tuesday before Biden’s comments, Michael said the US decision to stop an arms shipment was already a “worrying signal” that reflected the “depth of tensions between Israel and the US”.

An Israeli official told NBC News that there is great frustration within the Israeli government over the Biden administration’s decision to withhold the shipment. These included 2,000-pound bombs that the U.S. feared would have deadly effects in a densely populated urban area.

“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a result of these bombs and other attacks on population centers,” Biden said in his interview on CNN on Wednesday when asked about the blocked shipment.

His administration has faced increasing criticism for continuing to send weapons to Israel despite the rising death toll in the enclave, and there has been little transparency about the amount of ammunition the U.S. has sent to Israel since the war began seven months ago .

But Israel already has a significant arsenal, so the suspended arms transfer is unlikely to stop a widespread military offensive in Rafah, said Alex Plitsas, a member of the Atlantic Council and a military intelligence expert. The decision was largely “symbolic,” he said in a telephone interview on Wednesday.

“It will have no real impact on ground operations in Gaza,” he said, adding that he believed the Biden administration ultimately wanted to “express the displeasure” it felt with Israel’s plans. However, he noted that if this trend continues, future halted shipments could have a more noticeable impact on Israel’s operations in Gaza.

This would not be the first time that the US has withheld military aid to Israel.

In 1982, President Ronald Reagan imposed a six-year ban on the sale of cluster weapons to Israel after a congressional investigation found that Israel had used them in populated areas during its 1982 offensive in Lebanon.

Wednesday’s developments came as the Biden administration missed a deadline to submit a highly anticipated report to Congress on whether Israel is using U.S. weapons in accordance with international law.

It was not immediately clear when the report would be presented to Congress or what impact it might have on Israel’s offensive in Gaza, which Palestinian health officials said has killed more than 34,900 people.

According to Israeli officials, Israel launched its offensive after Hamas attacks on October 7 that killed about 1,200 people and took about 250 others hostage in the Gaza Strip. More than 130 hostages remain held in the enclave, at least a quarter of whom are believed to be dead.