Biden Puts Arms Shipment to Israel on Hold Amid
Dispute Over Rafah Attack
The United States withheld 3,500 bombs last week out
of concern that they might be used in a major assault against the southern Gaza
city, officials said.
Peter Baker
By Peter
Baker
Reporting
from Washington
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/07/us/politics/israel-biden-arms.html
Published
May 7, 2024
Updated May
8, 2024, 2:38 a.m. ET
President
Biden paused an arms shipment to Israel last week to prevent the U.S.-made
weapons from being used in a long-threatened assault on the city of Rafah,
administration officials said on Tuesday night, a sign of the growing rift
between the United States and Israel over the conduct of the war.
The
president withheld 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs that he
feared could be dropped on Rafah, where more than one million Gazans have taken
refuge, the officials said. The administration is reviewing whether to hold
back future transfers, including guidance kits that convert so-called dumb
bombs into precision-guided munitions.
The
decision to delay the delivery of the 3,500 bombs was the first time since the
Oct. 7 Hamas-led terrorist attack that Mr. Biden has used his power to curtail
arms as an instrument to influence Israel’s approach to the war that followed.
A number of Mr. Biden’s Democratic allies in Congress have for weeks urged him
to limit or halt arms shipments to Israel, something he had refused to do until
now because of his strong support for the effort to destroy Hamas.
Israeli
officials disclosed the weapons pause to Axios earlier this week, but U.S.
officials refused to confirm it either at briefings or privately until Tuesday
night. The fact that they finally did so was a clear indication of how much
frustration is growing among administration officials that their Israeli
counterparts are not heeding U.S. warnings against a major operation in Rafah
that could lead to extensive civilian casualties. Confirmation of the arms
pause came just hours after Israel sent tanks into the city in southern Gaza.
One U.S.
official said the administration began reviewing arms shipments last month when
it became clear that Israel seemed to be reaching a decision on a Rafah
operation. Mr. Biden initially took the position that Israel should not attack
Rafah without a plan to effectively minimize civilian casualties, but in recent
weeks the White House has increasingly indicated that it did not believe such a
plan was even possible.
Israel has
not made clear whether it is on the verge of opening the assault on Rafah but
has taken actions in the last couple of days that seemed to hint it was moving
in that direction. Israeli forces ordered the evacuation of 110,000 civilians
from Rafah and mounted airstrikes against targets on the border areas of the
city in response to Hamas rockets that killed four Israeli soldiers over the
weekend.
Israel
called the entry of tanks into Rafah and seizure of the city’s border crossing
with Egypt on Tuesday a limited operation to eliminate Hamas fighters and
infrastructure tied to the rocket attack. The actions did not appear to be the
vanguard of the larger attack Israel has promised. But the evacuation order and
limited military moves appeared intended to keep pressure on Hamas while
negotiators meet in Cairo to discuss a possible cease-fire agreement.
Mr. Biden
made no mention of his decision to withhold the bombs during a speech earlier
Tuesday at a Holocaust remembrance ceremony at the Capitol, but repeated his
support for Israel. “My commitment to the safety of the Jewish people, security
of Israel, and its right to exist as an independent Jewish state is ironclad
even when we disagree,” he said.
The
administration is not halting all weapons to Israel and, at this point, has not
made a final determination on how to proceed with the bombs withheld last week.
In fact, officials said the administration had just approved the latest tranche
of aid amounting to $827 million worth of weapons and equipment. The
administration intends to send “every dollar” of the money just appropriated by
Congress, the officials said.
But they
said they were especially worried about the damage that could be done by the
2,000-pound bombs in a dense urban area like Rafah with so many displaced
civilians. And they are still deciding whether to send the Joint Direct Attack
Munitions, or JDAM, guidance kits.
Biden
administration officials appeared particularly upset on Tuesday about the
Israeli seizure of the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt,
hampering efforts to send in humanitarian aid. The move came as U.S. officials
are laboring to negotiate a deal to secure the release of some hostages held by
Hamas in exchange for a temporary cease-fire.
The seizure
and the closing of the Kerem Shalom crossing, the only two major entry points
in the south for food, medicine and other supplies, prompted immediate warnings
from international agencies that the already serious humanitarian crisis in
Gaza could worsen quickly. Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary,
told reporters that closing the crossings was “unacceptable.”
Tension
between Mr. Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has grown
steadily in recent months. During a call a month ago, Mr. Biden for the first
time threatened to rethink U.S. support for the war if Mr. Netanyahu did not
change course. While Mr. Biden did not explicitly say he would limit or cut off
arms during the call, that was an implied possibility.
Since then,
the White House has credited Israel with responding to the president’s demands
by doing more to facilitate humanitarian aid. But differences over the possible
Rafah operation remained unresolved. Israeli officials came to Washington to
outline their plans for the assault but did not fully address the concerns of
U.S. officials who feared a blood bath among civilians.
Administration
officials told their Israeli counterparts that they could not repeat the same
approach they used in northern Gaza, which led to heavy casualties and
devastated much of the territory. More than 34,000 people, including combatants
and civilians, have been killed in the seven months of the war, according to
the authorities in Gaza.
Israel
depends heavily on the United States to arm its military, especially for air
defense batteries like those used alongside American forces to knock down
nearly all of the more than 300 missiles and drones fired at it by Iran last
month. The successful defense underscored how critical American help has been
for Israel’s security.
Administration
officials have long made clear that they would not halt defensive weaponry. But
last week’s pause on the bombs came at the same time Secretary of State Antony
J. Blinken is set to deliver a report to Congress this week assessing whether
Israel has used American weapons in accordance with U.S. and international law.
The
much-awaited report could set the stage for a fierce debate about American
responsibility for Israel’s war, which has already touched off widespread
protests on college campuses. A finding that Israel has violated the law would
exponentially increase pressure on Mr. Biden to further curb arms deliveries,
while a finding that Israel has conducted its war legally would surely fuel
protests and draw further complaints from congressional Democrats.
Peter Baker
is the chief White House correspondent for The Times. He has covered the last
five presidents and sometimes writes analytical pieces that place presidents
and their administrations in a larger context and historical framework. More about Peter Baker
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário