Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-Florida) said the U.S.-Israel relationship is “firm” amid tensions over Gaza, but suggested that “communication” between the two countries regarding Rafah should be done “behind the doors” closed.”
Wasserman-Schultz reaffirmed that Biden “stood firmly” behind Israel following the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack in the south of the country, which killed some 1,200 Israelis.
But regarding his administration’s decision to withhold some weapons from Israel last week as the country plans to move forward with a large-scale incursion into Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than a million Palestinians are sheltering, the Democrat from Florida argued that there is “a problem of inaccuracy in the president’s communication.”
Biden said earlier this week that he would withhold some weapons from Israel if his forces pressed ahead with the Rafah invasion.
“What he said the other day left the impression that, from my conversations with the White House over the last few days, it was not quite what it seemed,” Wasserman-Schultz said during her Friday appearance on MSNBC.
“The president said the White House is communicating to Israel that the 2,500-pound dumb bombs, the ones that fall and result in widespread impact, are not appropriate for the engagement and involvement that Israel plans in Rafah,” she said. while she adds that the White House did not receive a plan from Israel on how to safely evacuate civilians in Rafah before carrying out the military operation.
She said the speech between the US and Israel should be done “in private.”
“We shouldn’t be having this debate publicly because we have a close enough relationship with Israel to have these types of conversations behind closed doors,” she said on MSNBC.
Wasserman-Schultz was one of 26 House Democrats who signed the letter, addressed to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, rejecting the president’s decision to suspend heavy weapons supplies to Tel Aviv.
“We are deeply concerned about the message the Administration is sending to Hamas and other Iranian-backed terrorist proxies by withholding arms shipments to Israel during a critical moment in negotiations,” the letter said.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
