Senate Republicans have accused President Biden and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., of giving Iran more confidence before its recent attack on Israel, an ally of the United States.
“Instead of standing with our ally, Israel, Democrats are focused on appealing to their radical left base, which hates Israel and is actively supporting Hamas and Iran,” Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas (R)
“Joe Biden gave Iran permission to receive over $100 billion in order to placate his base. Cruz stated, “Iran then used that money to make cruise missiles and drones to attack Israel.” “Joe Biden actually provided financial support for Iran’s invasion of Israel. The Democratic stance on Iran and Israel is both nonsensical and unjustifiable.”
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Iran attacked Israel directly over the weekend, launching hundreds of drone strikes as well as a barrage of ballistic and cruise missiles. With the help of the U.S. military, Israel managed to intercept almost all the incoming drone and missile attacks
Iran has already used proxies in nations like Yemen and Syria to carry out strikes against Israel. When a nation launches an attack from within, it signifies a significant transition from a proxy conflict to a direct assault.
“Since October 7, Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer have tried to undermine Israel at every turn,” Senator Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said in a “Whether it’s on the battlefield, at the UN, or in Congress, they are more interested in pleasing the pro-Hamas wing of their party than they are in helping our greatest ally in the Middle East.”
The Democratic Party’s change in stance towards Israel was highlighted by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, who said in a statement on Saturday that “Tehran and its proxies are emboldened when they see divisions between the US and Israel.”
Biden reinforced his stance towards Israel as it battles Hamas in Gaza before to the attack. According to the White House, during a call this month, Biden cautioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps” to address civilian casualties and guarantee the safety of humanitarian aid workers. The request came after an Israeli strike that claimed the lives of seven World Central Kitchen relief workers.
Republicans were incensed by Schumer’s remarks last month when he asked Israel to conduct elections to unseat Netanyahu, claiming that the Israeli leader “has put himself in coalition with far-right extremists” and “has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza.”
“If Prime Minister Netanyahu’s current coalition remains in power after the war begins to wind down and continues to pursue dangerous and inflammatory policies that test existing U.S. standards for assistance, then the United States will have no choice but to play a more active role in shaping Israeli policy by using our leverage to change the present course,” Schumer stated.
Schumer asked for and regularly receives a confidential intelligence briefing on the status of hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas prior to his floor speech. According to a person with knowledge of the matter, the briefing showed that if Schumer made his speech, hostage talks would not be interrupted.
Whether any consequences pertaining to Iran were communicated at the briefing, the source could not answer.
A spokesman for Schumer’s office, Allison Biasotti, responded to the allegations in a statement, saying, “Leader Schumer has made it clear that the United States’ commitment to Israel’s security is unwavering, and that the best way to deter enemies of Israel, like Iran, is for the House to promptly pass the bipartisan supplemental bill, which Schumer already passed in the Senate and has over $17 billion urgently needed for Israel’s defence and U.S. operations against Iranian-backed aggression in the Red Sea.”
The office of the majority leader stated that Iran and Israel have been involved in a protracted struggle for years and that the attack on Israel was a reaction to the recent Israeli strike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus, Syria.
However, a Democratic aide said that some senators within the party are worried that the way more Democrats are standing on Israel may give Iran the impression that America is losing faith in its partner.
The Republican senator from South Carolina, Sen. Tim Scott, charged that Biden was attempting to “walk a tightrope of appeasing an increasingly radical base of his party while upholding the mainstream American position of support for Israel.”
“The president’s lack of tightrope walking is the issue. “He’s attempting to cross the Grand Canyon,” he remarked in a statement
In a response, White House spokesman Andrew Bates retaliated against criticism of Biden’s stance towards Israel and denied allegations that it gave Iran the green light to strike.
“Former Trump Administration officials’ own reporting have debunked those lies,” he stated.
“President Biden is the only American President to have directly defended Israel, as he ordered the American military to do last weekend,” Bates stated. In addition, he is the only American president to have visited Israel when it was at war, showing our unwavering dedication to ensuring their security. Unlike others, he never applauded Hezbollah or vented his grievances against Israel in the days following October 7th.
