As President Joe Biden continues to feel political pressure from the far-left flank of his party to abandon Israel in its fight against regional foes, his initial endorsement of the nation’s right to defend itself has notably weakened.
Despite claiming after the recent Iranian missile strike that U.S. support for Israel was “ironclad,” details from a conversation Biden had with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a somewhat different story.
One source confirmed that the president told Netanyahu that America would not back Israel if it launched a counterattack on Iran following Saturday’s barrage of missiles and drones, most of which were intercepted before reaching their target.
“You got a win,” Biden reportedly told the Israeli prime minister. “Take the win.”
The White House’s admonition against retaliation sparked backlash from Republicans, along with a handful of pro-Israel Democrats, and one GOP senator question the Biden administration’s motivation for leaking the contents of the Biden-Netanyahu phone call.
“They know that Israel is going to respond,” said U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) during a CNN interview on Sunday. “They know that for a fact. So, why would the White House leak it?”
He went on to speculate that the Biden administration chose to release the president’s warning ahead of November’s election in order to “appease” the “anti-Israel and pro-terrorist elements” within his own party.
“There’s only one reason they leaked that,” Rubio said. “And that is that so when Israel does respond, the White House can say ‘we told them not to do it’ and at least somehow in some way appease these so-called peace activists.”
The Florida Republican also took exception to the claims of activists calling for a ceasefire that they are doing so in the name of peace.
The next time you hear the “ceasefire now” crowd described as “peace activists” remember how many of them cheered the launch of hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel. They don’t want a ceasefire, they want #Israel destroyed.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) April 14, 2024
“These ceasefire now’ people who were out yesterday cheering the launch of hundreds of rockets and drones and missiles against Israel — people that are out there cheering military attacks of this scale and scope are not peace activists,” he said.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby expounded on the current administration’s policy in a statement on Sunday, asserting: “We don’t seek a war with Iran. We’re not looking for escalation here. We will continue to help Israel defend itself.”
