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US issues ‘sharp’ warning to Israel as arms embargo deadline nears

Biden administration’s 30-day deadline for policy changes in Gaza nearing, raising fears among Israeli officials that the lame duck White House is ready to go ‘all the way’ with sanctions against Israel.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

The Biden administration admonished Israel last Friday, issuing a “sharp” warning regarding a memorandum demanding Israel make over a dozen policy changes in the Gaza Strip or else face an arms embargo, Israel’s Channel 12 reported over the weekend.

On Friday, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke by phone with his new Israeli counterpart, Defense Minister Israel Katz (Likud), who last week replaced Yoav Gallant (Likud).

The call marked the first conversation between the two since Katz became Defense Minister.

According to Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, during the phone call, Austin Austin “reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to Israel’s security and support for its right to defend itself,” while emphasizing to the Israeli defense minister the administration’s demand that Israel work “to improve the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza.”

According to a report by Channel 12, however, Austin warned that the administration would restrict the transfer of military equipment to Israel, should it fail to implement the policy changes listed in a memo from the Biden administration last month.

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Sources cited by the report said Austin delivered a “sharp” message, and that the Biden White House appears prepared to go “all the way” with its threats of an arms embargo should Israel not implement all 15 of the changes demanded in the memo.

The October 13th memo set out an ultimatum, with a 30-day deadline which will be reached this week, demanding that Israel commit to 15 steps aimed at increasing the flow of aid into the Gaza Strip, limiting the use of evacuation orders in Gaza, and ending what the administration dubbed the “isolation of northern Gaza.”

The letter also strongly urged Israel not to pass legislation banning the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).