Far-left Dems celebrate Biden’s decision to withhold Israel aid as ‘step forward’

Biden had announced that the United States would not supply weapons that Israel could use to carry out its planned military operation in Rafah.

By Matthew Xiao, Washington Free Beacon

The far-left Uncommitted National Movement on Thursday celebrated President Joe Biden’s decision to withhold military aid from Israel as an Israeli assault on Rafah looms, calling the pause in weapons supply a “step forward.”

“Biden’s announcement to halt American arms for Israel’s Rafah invasion marks a step forward, propelled by our growing anti-war movement,” spokeswoman Layla Elabed said on Thursday, according to National Review.

“But, as the Democratic Party has fractured over Israel’s atrocities in Gaza over the past several months, Biden’s actions will always speak louder than his words,” Elabed, the younger sister of “Squad” member Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.), added.

The Uncommitted National Movement, which led more than 100,000 Democratic voters to vote “uncommited” in Michigan’s primary earlier this year to protest Biden’s role in the Israel-Hamas war, is calling for a pause on all U.S. military aid to Israel and an “immediate and permanent ceasefire.”

Biden had announced during a CNN interview on Wednesday that the United States would not supply weapons that Israel could use to carry out its planned military operation in Rafah, the last major Hamas stronghold in Gaza.

“I made it clear that if [Israeli forces] go into Rafah—they haven’t gone in Rafah yet—if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, that deal with that problem,” Biden said.

The Biden administration has reportedly already halted a shipment of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs to Israel, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirming on Wednesday that “one shipment of high payload munitions” to the Jewish state has been paused.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday responded to Biden’s threat by saying Israel would continue to “defeat our enemy and those who want to destroy us” regardless of U.S. support.

“If we need to stand alone, we will stand alone. I have said that, if necessary, we will fight with our nails. But we have much more than nails, and with that same strength of spirit—with God’s help—together, we will win,” Netanyahu said.