Capehart: Biden’s Israel Threat Is Part of Effort to Get Hamas to Agree to a Deal

On Friday’s “PBS NewsHour,” Washington Post Associate Editor and MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart stated that President Joe Biden’s threat to withhold certain weapons from Israel if they invade Rafah’s population centers is a part of “an enormous diplomatic effort on the part of the President to get Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire, namely, Hamas, agree to a ceasefire, maybe for six weeks, and then hope that it holds and that they can bring an end to the conflict.”

Capehart said, “These are not isolated incidents. They are all part of what I view as an enormous diplomatic effort on the part of the President to get Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire, namely, Hamas, agree to a ceasefire, maybe for six weeks, and then hope that it holds and that they can bring an end to the conflict. But in terms of what the President is saying, I interviewed him on March 9, where I asked him, what’s your red line with Benjamin Netanyahu? Is it invasion of Rafah? He said yes. Fast-forward to May 8, in an interview with CNN, he’s also, once again, asked a red line question, and he said, well, if he — if Netanyahu invades Rafah, I’m going to halt — I will halt weapons shipments.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett