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Can you believe that in an interview with CNN, President Biden said that if Israel goes into Rafah, “we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells used.”

The U.S. has historically provided enormous amounts of military aid to Israel. That has increased after October 7, when Hamas attacked and killed some 1,200 in Israel and led to about 250 being taken captive by militants. Biden’s decision to pause a shipment of heavy bombs to Israel comes as a shock and shows the growing differences between his administration and Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s. If that had happened in the U.S., do you think we would care what any other country said or remarked how we should conduct a war? Remember 9/11/2001?

Biden said that Israel’s actions around Rafah had “not yet” crossed his red lines, but he has repeated that Israel needs to do far more to protect the lives of civilians in Gaza. Is he forgetting that 70% of Palestinians support Hamas? If Israelis back off from Rafah, Hamas would maintain control of Gaza. Israel has ordered the evacuation of 100,000 Palestinians from the city. Israeli forces have also carried out targeted strikes on the eastern part of Rafah and captured the Rafah crossing, where control of humanitarian aid is along the Gaza-Egypt border.

The arms shipment was supposed to consist of 3,500 bombs from 500 to 2,000-pound and now the administration is concerned about the larger explosives and how they could be used in a dense urban area. “Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers. Personally, I can tell you from experience, war is hell. However, I have never seen a country at war try to protect and avoid civilian casualties more than Israel has. Biden has some nerve when the U.S. killed somewhere around 170,000 – 200,000.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed the weapons delay, telling the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense that the U.S. paused “one shipment of high payload munitions.” “We’re going to continue to do what’s necessary to ensure that Israel has the means to defend itself. I would ask the Secretary; how can you say that when you are tying one hand behind their back?

The Biden administration also delivered a verdict recently that the airstrikes on Gaza and restrictions on delivery of aid have violated international and U.S. laws. Seems like if this is the way we act toward one of our greatest allies, and the only democracy in the Middle East, I would hate to see how we would act toward an enemy.

Biden signed off on the pause in an order conveyed to the Pentagon, according to U.S. officials who were not authorized to comment on the matter. The White House National Security Council tried to keep the decision out of the public eye for several days until it had a better understanding of Israel’s military operations in Rafah and until Biden could deliver a speech to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day, before announcing the pause on arms shipments. No final decision had been made yet on whether to proceed with the shipment at a later date. Yet Biden still describes U.S. support for Israel as “ironclad, even when we disagree”… wow, what a joke! Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, said in an interview with Israeli TV news, that the decision to pause the shipment was “a very disappointing decision, even frustrating.” He suggested the move stemmed from political pressure on Biden from Congress, the U.S. campus protests and the upcoming election.

Biden’s decision drew a sharp response from House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who said they only learned about the military aid holdup from press reports, despite assurances from the administration that no such pauses were in the works. The Republicans called on Biden in a letter to swiftly end the blockage, saying it “risks emboldening Israel’s enemies”. Biden has faced pressure from some on the left, and condemnation from the critics on the right who say he has moderated his support for an essential Mideast ally.

“If we stop weapons necessary to destroy the enemies of the state of Israel at a time of great peril, we will pay a price,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., his voice rising in anger during an exchange with Austin. “This is obscene. It is absurd. Give Israel what they need to fight the war they can’t afford to lose.” However, Sen. Bernie Sanders said in a statement the pause on bombs must be a “first step”. He went on to say, “our leverage is clear, over the years, the United States has provided tens of billions of dollars in military aid to Israel. We can no longer be complicit in Netanyahu’s horrific war against the Palestinian people.”

Biden must stop appeasement of the radical left that is loudly turning their back on our greatest ally in the Middle East. “The Squad” along with many college professors, professional paid protesters, and “children” protesters, have made it clear where they stand. College students have probably never even heard of the Holocaust where six million Jews were slaughtered. Biden is such a weak President that seems to stick his finger in the air to see which way the political spectrum is blowing.

The question is, where do you stand? In Genesis 12:2-3, God made an everlasting covenant with Abraham and the future promised land (Israel), “I will make you a great nation, I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless you, and I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”.

The editorial reflects the views of Ray Artman and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Tullahoma News or its staff.