Republican Rep. Mike Waltz (D-Florida) alleged Sunday that President Biden’s threat to suspend weapons to Israel is politically motivated, with less than six months until the November elections.
“I think the reality of us being in an election year right now and the election is only six months away… I think there’s kind of a political and operational reality there. But… he’s certainly withholding aid, and he’s obviously doing it for political reasons,” Waltz said Sunday in an interview on NewsNation’s”Hill Sunday.”
Waltz’s comments come days after Biden warned he would stop supplying Israel with offensive weapons, including bombs and artillery shells, if Israeli forces launched a full-scale invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza. The White House has repeatedly warned against sending forces to Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians are seeking shelter in the midst of the war.
Netanyahu has said entry into Rafah is necessary to eliminate the threat from Hamas and Israel ordered further evacuations in the southern city over the weekend.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), one of the main aid agencies that provides food, shelter and medicine to Palestinians,he saidthat “at least” 300,000 people will be affected by the new evacuation orders.
NewsNation anchor Chris Stirewalt then noted that the US has a “responsibility” to monitor and direct how its allies use the weapons it provides them.
“Oh, sure. We have gun use monitoring all over the world,” Waltz said. “But in this case, if you look at… I mean, he’s making this kind of ridiculous distinction. He actually did that in the period leading up to the conflict in Ukraine, too, with regard to offensive and defensive weaponry.”
The Florida Republican argued that Biden’s threat could be counterintuitive.
“This isn’t going to get what Biden wants. It’s just angering supporters of Israel who believe like I do, you have to destroy Hamas. You can’t allow them to survive another day. And I just don’t think that’s going to happen . lead us to a reasonable resolution outcome,” Waltz said.
The Hill has reached out to the White House for further comment.
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