The Biden administration has halted expedited arms shipments to the Jewish state in response to Democrat pressure to undermine Israel in its war on Hamas, according to Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who accused the president of “deliberately misleading the American people” and “insulting a key ally” that is “under sustained threat.”
In a letter sent on Thursday to President Joe Biden, Sen. Tom Cotton criticized the current administration for withholding weapons and ammunition from Israel, while calling out the bureaucratic maneuvers being used to delay arms deliveries, despite the Jewish state’s urgent need for them due to its ongoing conflict with the U.S.-designated Islamist terrorist organization Hamas:
Your administration is engaged in bureaucratic sleight-of-hand to withhold this crucial aid to Israel during a shooting war. As you are aware, the Arms Export Control Act requires the administration to notify Congress before sending weapons to a foreign country. Your administration has manipulated this requirement by withholding this formal notification to Congress of approved weapons sales, including F-15s, tactical vehicles, 120-mm mortars, 120-mm tank rounds, joint direct attack munitions, and small diameter bombs. Your administration can then claim that the weapons are “in process” while never delivering them.
The letter also demands transparency and a full record of all weapons and ammunition Israel has requested, along with “explanations” for the delays.
Urging the administration to expedite military aid to support Israel effectively, Cotton, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, argued that continued delays undermine Israel’s security and are politically motivated responses to pressure from Democratic lawmakers:
[T]he law also includes an exception for “when emergencies exist,” which allows you to waive the requirement for congressional review and expedite weapons sales. Your administration is obviously aware of this exception since you invoked it just last year. Yet, it appears that you stopped acknowledging the emergency in Israel after receiving a letter from nearly twenty congressional Democrats in January, urging you to end expedited weapons sales to Israel. Though your administration reportedly released a ship carrying at least some of these arms on Wednesday, that modest step doesn’t cure the damage done by the delay.
He also accused President Biden of “playing politics with the nation’s honor and our ally’s security.”
“Worse still, your administration lacks the honesty to communicate its true policy to the American people, instead preferring to hide behind weasel words and bureaucratic process,” he wrote.
The matter comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused President Biden of withholding crucial weapons and ammunition needed for Israel’s war against Hamas and Hezbollah. While the White House denied the accusations, it admitted to delaying shipments of certain bombs.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jklein@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.