Posted on 05/09/24
| News Source: The Hill
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters that he has “faith” in what President Biden is doing to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza, including a decision to pause the delivery of 3,500 bombs as his administration assesses a potential Israeli invasion of Rafah.
“I believe that Israel and America have an ironclad relationship, and I have faith in what the Biden administration is doing,” Schumer said when asked if it is appropriate for the Biden administration to hold up the shipment of bombs amid intensifying opposition on the left to the war.
Republicans are excoriating Biden over withholding the munitions, which they argue were authorized and paid for in the $95 billion emergency foreign aid package Congress passed last month.
“A few days ago, we saw reports that the president was delaying weapons shipments to Israel, creating daylight between America and a close ally,” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) said on the Senate floor Wednesday.
“The decision to pause these shipments was withheld from Congress — we still don’t know key facts,” he said.
“The president’s apparent inability to keep the most radical voices on his left flank out of the Situation Room isn’t just a shameful abdication of leadership — it’s dangerous,” McConnell added.