Israel reacted with a mix of concern and fury Thursday to President Joe Biden’s warning that he would cut off weapons to the U.S. ally’s military if it moves forward with a full-scale assault on Rafah, the city in southern Gaza where more than 1 million Palestinians are sheltering.
The threat, which marked a shift in Washington’s public approach to the war, came after the Biden administration halted a shipment of bombs last week amid concerns over Israel’s plans to invade Rafah even as cease-fire talks continue with Hamas. Biden’s decision follows months of growing tensions between the U.S. and Israel — whose military it has long supplied with weapons — and as the president faces domestic pressure to take a harder line.
Israeli officials appeared in 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.” He suggested in an interview with Israeli Channel 12 TV news that the move stemmed from pressure Biden felt from both Congress and college campus protests.
“Israel will continue to fight Hamas until its destruction,” said Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz, in an apparent response to Biden’s threat, on X. “There is no just war like this one.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refrained from directly commenting on Biden’s remarks, but on Thursday afternoon, he reposted a video on X from a speech he delivered earlier this week saying: “If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone.”
