The US decision to pause the delivery of bombs represents a significant turning point in its relationship with Israel. But it may not necessarily be a breaking point.
The message was not getting through. Not through the phone calls or the emissaries or the public statements or the joint committee meetings. And so, frustrated that he was being ignored, President Joe Biden chose a more dramatic way of making himself clear to Israeli leaders. He stopped sending the bombs.was meant to convey a powerful signal that his patience has limits.
He acknowledged in a way that he has rarely done that American bombs have killed innocent Palestinians. “Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centres,” Biden said. The administration was hoping the pause would send a quiet message and did not announce it publicly at first, but the Israelis leaked it. In the days since the decision, Israel ordered the evacuation of 110,000 civilians in Rafah, conducted airstrikes against targets on the edges of the city, sent in tanks and seized the crossing with Egypt. Although these moves were characterised as limited and not the beginning of the promised assault, they touched off alarms in the White House.
“What they’re asking for is for Israel not to go into Rafah in a significant way,” said Elliott Abrams, a Middle East specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations who served in multiple Republican administrations. “Barring a hostage deal, I think the Israelis are going to go into Rafah, and it is going to cause a great deal of tension.”
Overall, since World War II, the United States has given more aid to Israel than any other country in the world. As of last year, the United States had provided $US158.7 billion to Israel since its founding, the vast bulk of it, or $US124.3 billion, for its military and its missile defences, according to the Congressional Research Service. Under a 10-year memorandum of understanding sealed by President Barack Obama, Washington currently provides $US3.
Senator Bernie Sanders, the democratic socialist from Vermont, said Biden’s decision was “absolutely right” but should only be the start. “Our leverage is clear,” he said. “Over the years, the United States has provided tens of billions of dollars in military aid to Israel. We can no longer be complicit in Netanyahu’s horrific war against the Palestinian people.”The decision got the attention of Netanyahu and his war Cabinet.
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