Top Biden official lobbied Congress to slap Israel with arms embargo

Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan calls for “political change” in Israel after revealing he encouraged congressional Democrats to back arms embargo on Israel.

By World Israel News Staff

A senior official in the Biden administration publicly endorsed imposing a sweeping arms embargo on Israel after privately lobbying Democratic lawmakers to back the move.

On Wednesday, former National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan appeared on The Bulwark podcast with Tim Miller, a former Republican strategist who bolted the party over his opposition to the Trump administration.

During the interview, Sullivan offered his backing for an arms embargo on Israel, revealing that earlier this year, he privately advised Democrats to back proposals in Congress to ban weapons sales to the Jewish state.

In particular, Sullivan expressed frustration with Israel after the January 19 ceasefire lapsed in March, resulting in a resumption of hostilities between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

“I have, in fact, told a number of members who were thinking about the votes on these resolutions that the situation as it stands today, following the breakdown of the cease-fire in March, means that a vote to withhold weapons to Israel is a totally credible position,” Sullivan said. “That is a position I would support.”

On March 2, the six-week truce reached in January ended without a new agreement in place for the second phase in the planned three-stage ceasefire, which was envisioned by the Biden administration culminating in a permanent end to the war in Gaza.

Amid the failure of brokered talks to reach a new deal, Israel gradually reimposed its siege on Gaza, and on March 18, it resumed military operations against Hamas in the coastal enclave.

Following the collapse of the January 19 ceasefire, Democratic lawmakers drafted measures aimed at curtailing US support for Israel, including bills that would have barred arms sales to Israel.

One such bill, proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders – an independent who caucuses with the Democrats – received the backing of more than half of Senate Democrats in a vote in July.

In Wednesday’s podcast, Sullivan also hinted at support for replacing the current Israeli government, suggesting that a continuation of Benjamin Netanyahu’s premiership could lead Democrats to distance themselves from the Jewish state.

“For me, the bigger question…is the future of the US-Israel relationship. Here it comes down to what is the future of Israel. Are we going to be dealing with the prime minister [Netanyahu] and a right-wing government for years on end, or is there going to be political change in Israel? Because I think that would have an impact on what the nature of the US-Israel relationship…will be.”

Should Israeli voters continue to elect right-wing governments similar to the current coalition, Sullivan continued, “Then it won’t be the Israel as we’ve known it.”