Should the Biden Administration Halt More Weapons Shipments to Israel?
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The Biden administration paused a shipment of weapons to Israel. Is Biden abandoning Israel or acting to protect innocent Palestinians in Gaza?
For Context: This week, the administration confirmed that it halted a shipment of weapons to Israel. Soon after, Biden said he would stop supplying Israel with offensive weapons if Israel went ahead with its planned invasion of Rafah, the southern city in Gaza.
“Shameless Flip-Flop”: Jim Geraghty (Lean Right bias) argued Biden’s decision “amounts to an attempt to save the remaining leadership and forces of Hamas,” calling the ultimatum the “latest shameless flip-flop from a spineless jellyfish of a man, a figure who is spectacularly unqualified to sit behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, and who is only sitting there by default because of the flaws of his past and current opponent.” Geraghty concluded that this action is indicative of Biden’s entire political career, stating, “Everyone knows he folds under pressure. Everyone knows he’s afraid of political blowback and he’s always overpromising and under-delivering.”
“Genocide is Genocide”: A writer in Al Jazeera (Lean Left bias) determined that “the threat of a full-scale assault on a mass of trapped civilians in the city has made even the global superpower – Israel’s devoted BFF – a bit squeamish.” Despite this move, the writer argued that the U.S. still bears responsibility for Israel’s actions in Gaza, stating, “Genocide is genocide. And give or take a few thousand bombs, US complicity in that genocide is totally ironclad.”
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
Give or take a few bombs, US complicity in genocide remains ‘ironclad’On Wednesday, May 8, United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin became the first senior administration official to publicly confirm that the US government has uncharacteristically paused a weapons shipment to Israel. Over the past seven months, the Israeli military has killed some 35,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip with solid US backing.
Speaking at a Senate subcommittee hearing, Secretary Austin remarked that the pause takes place “in the context of unfolding events in Rafah”, the city in southern Gaza where an estimated 1.4 million Palestinians, including more than 600,000 children,...
From the Center
Biden says he’ll stop sending offensive weapons to Israel if it invades RafahPresident Biden on Wednesday warned he would stop supplying Israel with offensive weapons like bombs and artillery shells if Israeli forces launch an invasion of Rafah, laying down a clear line amid outcry over the conflict in Gaza.
“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers,” Biden told CNN’s Erin Burnett in an interview.
“I made it clear that if they go into Rafah — they haven’t gone in Rafah yet — if they go into...
From the Right
Biden Comes to Hamas’s RescueOn the menu today: President Biden announces he’s blocking the transfer of certain weapons systems to prevent Israel from sending additional forces into Rafah, a policy that amounts to an attempt to save the remaining leadership and forces of Hamas. It’s just the latest shameless flip-flop from a spineless jellyfish of a man, a figure who is spectacularly unqualified to sit behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, and who is only sitting there by default because of the flaws of his past and current opponent. Believe it or...
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