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.
I believe they're throwing a fit about it right now but we'll see. They don't have a lot of room to complain about literal tons of free guns getting shipped to them.
It was initially for defense after a massacre when the Iron Dome was breached in October. That was completely justified support. The munitions sold since Netanyahu began indiscriminately killing Palestinians are not.
This is the equivalent of someone taking your house and throwing you in the basement and then when you come out and attack decades later they fight back and say its for self defense. Please.
I am no friend of Bibi or the IDFs action towards Palestinians, but let’s be fair - the northern border has been lit up lately, and Biden is still a self described Zionist. Not ‘defending’ the Jewish state is going to be a big line in the sand for him
While I’d love to see that, it would be unprecedented in the history of US-Israel relations. If it does happen at all, it will definitely come slowly.
Also, you may want to stop putting election abstinence out there as a consequence. We’re all aware that Trump will make things worse for Palestinians as well as everyone who isn’t a rich white American industrialist male.
I'm just making sure everyone knows what the consequence is, whether I like it or not. It's Biden's job to do right by the people who voted for him no matter how bad the alternative may be.
it would be unprecedented in the history of US-Israel relations
Not unprecedented. Ronald Reagan used the threat of halting arms exports to Israel in '83, in order to end PM Menachem Begin's terror bombing of Beirut.
But what about the profits? You can't go around not profiting just because a few thousand children are being killed, disfigured and orphaned! It's like you don't understand neoliberalism at all.
Sarcasm aside, stopping the money and weapons isn't enough to stop the genocide because Israel never needed any of it in the first place. But if you funnel hundreds of billions of dollars to defence contractors, there's nothing the US government won't consent to.
Orange man won't be any different. He's not even trying to pretend it's not a genocide, just coming out and saying Israel should "finish the problem".
That was true when Israel was created after WWII. It’s no longer the case. The US is also allied with Saudi Arabia and Egypt as non-NATO nations, and also with the NATO partners UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait.
Nah. That’s happened before, and everything just continued. It took nationwide protests all over the news, as well as several outspoken members of Congress to make this happen.
Not a snowball’s chance in hell. Putin backs Iran, which in turn backs Hamas, Hezbollah, and Houthis. The Israel-Iran proxy conflict has been a US/Russia proxy conflict since Reagan and Gorbachev.
That's true, but also a little more complicated than that I think. At least one of the reasons Israel was able to extract so much aid from the US to begin with was the threat they could align with the Soviet Union (initially one of the biggest supporters of Israel, and first to recognize them as a state officially in 1947, though they had a few others had unofficially recognized them by then). Stalin had a zionist foreign policy, despite (or maybe because of) being antisemitic himself. Though Soviets and Israel largely schismed in 1967 and the Soviet union began throwing its funding behind the surrounding Arab states.
Relations warmed in the 90s again but have been up and down since. But there has been a lot of Russian immigration to Isreal. Russian is the third most spoken language in Israel.
2011, Putin said: "Israel is, in fact, a special state to us. It is practically a Russian-speaking country. Israel is one of the few foreign countries that can be called Russian-speaking. It's apparent that more than half of the population speaks Russian".[38] Putin additionally claimed that Israel could be considered part of the Russian cultural world, and contended that "songs which are considered to be national Israeli songs in Israel are in fact Russian national songs". He further stated that he regarded Russian-speaking Israeli citizens as his compatriots and part of the 'Russian World'
Israel at times has been quite friendly to Russia. It took a neutral stance on the Crimea annexation, infuriating the United States. Russia recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in 2017. Israel refused to recognize Russians assassinating people abroad, infuriating the UK. Netanyahu has spoke often about his friendship with Putin. Israel refused to impose sanctions on Russia or send defensive weapons to Ukraine.
I mean you could go on, it's a complicated relationship, with especially Netanyahu favoring closer relations with Russia and trying to play both sides. Iran's relationship with Russia certainly presents complications, but I don't think Israel getting closer to Russia or at least using the threat of it to extract more from the United States is out of the question. They're often trying to "play both sides" of the Russia and US divide to their benefit. Especially if Netanyahu remains in power.
China and Israel have had surprisingly good relations too. And again, Netanyahu has consistently tried to make those closer, possibly to help keep US aid flowing.
Not saying the US shouldn't cut off Isreal, please do, but the results may be surprising if that were to actually happen. I don't think putin harbors any particular concerns for the plight of the Palestinian people.
We had better hope hell stays hot and China stays out of it, then. Genocidal assholes don't care where they source their weapons, and I wouldn't put it past him to bend over for any country willing to support his campaign.
Considering Biden repealed his settler sanctions, I'd actually bet this eventually gets approved after Israel promises to pay shipping fees in exchange for breaking the SLA stating they can't do a genocide