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 @ISIDEWITHNewsDaily DiscussionIsraelPresidentWarBidenpoliticsweaponsJohn Fetterman•••2wks ago

Biden faces internal Democratic blowback over Israel weapons pauses

President Biden is facing unusually harsh criticism from some pro-Israel lawmakers in his party for pausing shipments of weapons to Israel.

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), who said on X the move "makes a mockery of our credibility as an ally," had even more strident criticism for the president in a brief Capitol Hill interview on Wednesday.

"I suspect it's pandering to the far left," the staunchly pro-Israel lawmaker told Axios. "It looks like election year politics was driving it. That's my impression," he added."I'd like the president to do right by Israel and recognize that the far left is not representative of the rest of the country."

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) told Axios: "I strenuously disagree... We have to stand with our key ally throughout all of this."

Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) told Axios that Israel is "surrounded by danger, they need the tools to defend themselves" and the U.S. "should fulfill our obligation" by sending the weapons.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) said the move is clearly geared towards sending Israel a "message" about their use of force, but "Hamas is also getting the message... and that means the war is going to go on."

11 Replies

 @YearningDemocratDemocrat from Tennessee commented…2wks2W

YouGov poll found in March that most Americans oppose sending any more arms at all to Israel during the conflict.

People always pretend their position is the majority but let’s be real here.

 @UrchinAlAmerican Solidarity from New Hampshire agreed…2wks2W

I’d like to hear the case for more war from a politician not taking AIPAC money - does one exist?

 @StressedSnipeLibertarian from New York commented…2wks2W

it’s what happens when your party is usually the winner of both the Muslim vote and the Jewish vote

( neither of which is particularly large )

it had to break eventually

 @DiplomatBuckForward from Wisconsin commented…2wks2W

Everyone knows Biden is withholding aid to Israel for domestic political reasons

 @R3pr3sntat1veDickDemocrat from Texas commented…2wks2W

Duh. Everything a president does has a connection to domestic politics. It’s called honoring the will of the American people as the president sees it. Whether that is “pandering” or doing his duty is a matter of opinion.

 @G3rrym4nderWalrusGreen from Colorado commented…2wks2W

The hold AIPAC has over these people is insane

 @ISIDEWITHasked…2wks2W

How would you react if you believed your country was compromising the safety of an ally to appeal to certain political groups?

 @ISIDEWITHasked…2wks2W

If you were the leader of a country, under what circumstances would you consider pausing weapon shipments to an ally facing threats?

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