Biden Straps On Temporary Spine
No More "Offensive" Weapons to Israel if the IDF Invades Rafah?
President Joe Biden has strapped on a temporary spine in opposing “offensive” weapons transfers to Israel as the IDF masses to invade Rafah in Gaza.
From NBC News, here’s a measured response from the Israeli government:
Israel's right-wing national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, offered a more hardline reaction. "Hamas ❤️ Biden," he said in a post on X that drew swift criticism from Israel's opposition leader, Yair Lapid, and others.
No U.S. politician has accepted more money from Israeli lobbies over his career than Joe Biden. No U.S. president has kowtowed more obsequiously to the Israeli government. Yet Biden is learning that even the mildest steps to slow genocide in Gaza are unacceptable to Israel.
Why did Biden strap on a temporary spine? Partly, I think, because his poll numbers are dropping, and partly because student protests across America are having an impact. Of course, Biden’s spine vis-a-vis the Israeli genocide against the Palestinians will likely have all the rigidity of a jellyfish. Nevertheless, even Biden apparently has his limits, especially as Israel does nothing for him as they demand everything from him.
Note, of course, how the ban is only on “offensive” weaponry, mainly meaning 2000-pound bombs and heavy artillery shells. Israel will continue to receive all the “defensive” weapons it says it needs to defeat relatively lightly-armed members of Hamas.
Naturally, Bibi Netanyahu has vowed to attack and wipe out Rafah irrespective of U.S. support, so Biden’s temporary spine will likely accomplish nothing. Still, it gives him a modicum of (im)plausible deniability for all the Israeli war crimes and atrocities to come in Rafah, which the DNC and his handlers seem to believe will be enough to tamp down the “Genocide Joe” chants.
Of course, if Biden had a real spine, he would have stopped all weapons shipments to Israel months ago. But then he would have never received all those millions of dollars in political donations in the first place, nor would he have been picked as the Democratic candidate for the presidency by the owners in 2020.
Bill, I take a somewhat different view of this. I think the Biden administration is being much more cynical.
The implication of the announcement is meant to suggest the Israelis get "just in time" deliveries of weapons, and Biden's 'decisive' action will throttle their actions. From what little reporting is done by the MSM it appears the deliveries have been ongoing for months - often without prior funding or concurrence of even the Israeli-owned Congress.
I suspect Israel has enough munitiions of every variety to complete their current offensive . And the Biden campaign thinks it will help with its campaign by showing, particularly younger voters, that it's doing everything it can to stop the genocide.
I suspect they're the only ones who believe their own BS.
Biden's statement on CNN was about as inarticulate as it could possibly be. The real measure of accountability can only be measured in months from now not days. Israel's cratering economy will probably do more to back down than any hollow words from Biden. As the Chinese say of our leaders, "You say one thing and then do another."