Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is rejecting President Biden’s conditions for aid to Israel.
McConnell emphasized that the US should not direct Israel on how it should conduct its war with Hamas.
“It’s a democratic ally of an elected government – a unity government – and we shouldn’t be telling them how to conduct a war on their own borders,” McConnell said in an interview with Political published on Thursday. “If they are a democratic ally, we cannot choose the leaders. And this is a unity government…it’s not about the prime minister.”
The Kentucky Republican’s comments came just a day after Biden warned Israel that he would suspend some arms transfers to Israel if it launched a full-scale invasion of Rafah, a city in southern Gaza where more than 1 million Palestinians are sheltering. .
“I have made it clear that if they go to Rafah – they have not yet gone to Rafah – if they go to Rafah, I will not provide the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities – that deal with this problem,” Biden said in an interview with CNN.
The White House has told Israel it is against invading Rafah if there is no plan to safely evacuate civilians. Last week, the US reportedly paused sending bombs to Israel due to concerns related to the Rafah invasion.
McConnell, who was a big factor in approving foreign aid in Congress last month, disagrees with Biden’s warning to impose conditions on the US ally’s arming.
“We shouldn’t be telling them how to protect themselves,” he told Politico. “We should not condition the arrival of the military equipment they need because of some internal view that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is unpopular. Completely irrelevant to the war.”
Despite the president drawing a red line regarding the operation in Rafah, Netanyahu said the incursion would continue.
“If we need to be alone, we will be alone,” Netanyahu said in a video speech posted On thursday.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
