Johnson, McConnell demand answers on Biden’s Israel arms delay

JOSHUA MARKS

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (left) and House Speaker Mike Johnson on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 26, 2023. Source: Office of Senator Mitch McConnell via Wikimedia Commons.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are demanding answers from the Biden administration on delayed weapons shipments to Israel during its war against Hamas in Gaza.

The two Republicans sent a letter to the White House on Wednesday, writing that they were “alarmed” by the postponement, which Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin confirmed to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense on the same day.

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“These recent press reports and pauses in critical weapons shipments call into question your pledge that your commitment to Israel’s security will remain ironclad,” Johnson and McConnell wrote.

Austin told the hearing on Capitol Hill that the U.S. paused “one shipment of high payload munitions,” adding that “we’ve not made a final determination on how to proceed with that shipment.”

The defense secretary assured that Jerusalem would continue to receive defensive security assistance and that the paused arms sale is not connected to the recently passed foreign aid bill, which includes billions of dollars in military aid for Israel.

“We are currently reviewing some near-term security assistance shipments in the context of unfolding events in Rafah,” Austin said.

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Washington is opposed to a full-scale military invasion of the last Hamas stronghold in southernmost Gaza, arguing that Jerusalem has not convinced it that noncombatants will be protected.

Israel says that conquering Rafah city is necessary to winning the war and preventing Hamas from regrouping and threatening the Jewish state again, with the terrorist group vowing multiple repeats of the Oct. 7 massacre.

Israeli forces earlier this week began civilian evacuations from eastern Rafah to humanitarian zones, before conducting a targeted operation that included taking control of the border crossing with Egypt.

According to the letter, Johnson and McConnell have been unable to obtain relevant information from the State and Defense departments about the ongoing review of weapons shipments.

“Israel faces an existential and multi-front threat as recently demonstrated by the direct attack by Iran and Iranian-backed terrorists, and daylight between the United States and Israel at this dangerous time risks emboldening Israel’s enemies and undermining the trust that other allies and partners have in the United States,” their letter states.

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