President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on Oct. 18, 2023.Miriam Alster / AP file
Published January 28, 2024
U.S. officials are considering pausing or slowing some arms shipments to Israel to convince the government to heed U.S. calls to scale back its military assault in Gaza.
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is discussing using weaponry sales to Israel as leverage to convince the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to heed long-standing U.S. calls to scale back its military assault in the Gaza Strip, according to three current U.S. officials and one former U.S. official.
At the direction of the White House, the Pentagon has been reviewing what weaponry Israel has requested that could be used as leverage, said the sources. They said no decisions have been made.
The sources said Israeli officials continue to ask the administration for more weapons, including large aerial bombs, ammunition and air defenses.
After weeks of private administration requests produced fewer results than the White House wants, the sources said, the U.S. is considering slowing or pausing the deliveries in the hope that doing so will prod the Israelis to take action, such as opening humanitarian corridors to provide more aid to Palestinian civilians.
Among the weaponry the U.S. has discussed using as leverage are 155 mm artillery rounds and joint direct attack munitions (JDAMs), which are guidance kits that convert dumb bombs into precision-guided munitions, the officials said. The officials said the administration is likely to continue to provide other conversion kits that make Israeli munitions more precise.
Officials said they are not likely to slow the delivery of air defenses, though the idea was considered, as well as other systems that can defend Israeli civilians and infrastructure from attack. The administration is focused on offensive military equipment in its review of what it could possibly withhold or delay.
Administration officials have also discussed offering the Israeli government more of the weaponry it has requested as an incentive to take some steps that the U.S. has requested, officials said.
The effort comes after weeks of President Joe Biden and his national security team failing to convince Netanyahu and other Israeli officials to dramatically change tactics in Gaza and to take more steps to minimize civilian casualties, officials said. It marks a potential shift in Biden’s approach by going beyond rhetorical pressure, largely behind the scenes, and to making tangible policy changes aimed at getting Israel to act.
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SOURCE: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-administration-discussing-slowing-weaponry-deliveries-israel-pre-rcna136035
RELATED: Biden said to tell Netanyahu he can’t support year-long war in Gaza as elections near
In first call last week in almost a month, US president pressed premier on plans after war, Axios reports
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with US President Joe Biden in Tel Aviv, October 18, 2023. (Miriam Alster/ Flash90)
Published January 27, 2024
US President Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone conversation last week that he will not support a year-long war in Gaza, according to an Axios report Friday.
Citing two anonymous US officials, the report said Biden asked Netanyahu to speed up the transition to low-intensity fighting against Hamas that would reduce harm to civilians, warned that “he is not in it for a year of war,” and pressed him on an “end state.”
Israel is four months into a war with Gaza’s Hamas rulers, following the terror group’s murderous rampage across southern Israel on October 7, when thousands of terrorists killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 253 people of all ages as hostages. Following the attack, Israel declared war on Hamas, launching an offensive aimed at removing it from power and returning the hostages.
Netanyahu told a press conference last month that he anticipated the war lasting for many more months, and reportedly told local council leaders two weeks ago that it would continue into 2025.
In their call last week, their first conversation after 27 days, Biden reportedly told Netanyahu that he does not understand exactly what Israel’s strategy is for ending the war, and asked for an answer on the prime minister’s vision for the day after the war.
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SOURCE: www.timesofisrael.com
RELATED: Scoop: Biden tells Bibi he’s not in it for a year of war in Gaza
Published January 27, 2024
President Biden last week pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scale down the Israeli military operation in Gaza, stressing he is not in it for a year of war, two U.S. officials told Axios.
Why it matters: Biden’s comments during the two leaders’ call last Friday reflect the growing U.S. concern about the continuation of the war and the president’s desire to see it end long before the November elections.
A Biden adviser told Axios the White House is very concerned about losing young voters, many of whom are opposed to the president’s policy on the Gaza war.
A source close to the White House said Biden can’t have the war and the growing death toll to continue dominating the news cycle as the elections get closer.
The White House and the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment.
Behind the scenes: At least a third of Biden’s 40-minute call with Netanyahu on Jan. 19 focused on the Israeli timetable for moving to low-intensity operations across the Gaza Strip and Israel’s war strategy as a whole, one U.S. official said.
Netanyahu a day earlier had said the war would continue for “many more months.” Speaking to the Israeli leader about that comment, Biden urged Netanyahu to move faster to low-intensity operations that would decrease the number of civilian casualties, two U.S. officials said.
Zoom in: Biden asked Netanyahu several times for his plan and strategy in Gaza and said he doesn’t understand the “end state” the Israeli leader is envisioning for the enclave, the U.S. officials said.
Netanyahu told Biden that the transition to low-intensity fighting took place in northern Gaza and will happen in the south, but Israel needs more time than it originally thought, the officials added.
Netanyahu also said that Hamas would return if the Israel Defense Forces left Gaza now.
