Jewish organizations responded on Thursday to US President Joe Biden's comments in a CNN interview on Wednesday in which he said he would stop US weapon aid to Israel if the IDF would launch a large-scale operation in Rafah.
'Defeating Hamas critical for Israel's long-term security'
CEO of the American Jewish Committee, Ted Deutch, wrote on X, “President Biden should not take steps that could impair Israel’s ability to prevent Hamas from attacking it again and again -- as its leaders have promised. The US knows that defeating Hamas is critical to Israel’s long-term security and to defeating the global threat posed by the Iranian regime and its proxies.”
“It is Hamas that started this conflict,” Deutsch pointed out, adding, “It is Hamas that month after month refuses to accept proposals to release hostages and pause fighting. It is Hamas that continues to endanger Israeli and Palestinian lives.”
Deutsch added, “Over the past week, Hamas has stolen humanitarian aid from Palestinians and fired rockets from Rafah at a humanitarian zone, killing four Israelis and preventing humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. With thousands of Hamas terrorists still in Rafah, Israel must be able to prevent 10/7 from happening again.”
The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) also addressed Biden’s comments, writing on X, “Biden’s Middle East policy: relieving sanctions on the genocidal Iranian regime, while withholding critical military aid for the Jewish state as it fights a war of survival against terrorists.”
The RJC then noted, “America and Israel need Donald Trump back in the White House.”
The Orthodox Union's Executive Vice President Rabbi Moshe Hauer said that on Tuesday, when commemorating Holocaust Day, President Biden was clear that “it was Hamas that unleashed this terror, that it was Hamas that brutalized Israelis, that it was Hamas who took and continues to hold hostages.”
He said Biden had reiterated his “commitment to the safety of the Jewish people, the security of Israel, and its right to exist as an independent Jewish state is ironclad, even when we disagree,” and has repeatedly stated that he supports Israel’s right to defeat Hamas.
However, on Wednesday, the President publicly threatened to withhold weapons and resources from Israel if it pursues what it deems necessary to defeat the existential threat from Hamas.
Hauer directly addressed Biden: "Mr. President, we need your support to ensure that Israel is not alone, and that American Jewry is not alone."
Democratic mega-donor Haim Saban wrote an email to Biden's aides Steve Ricchetti & Anita Dunn about Biden's decision to put on hold a weapons shipment to Israel, Walla's Barak Ravid revealed on X.
Democratic mega-donor Haim Saban wrote an email to Biden's aides Steve Ricchetti & Anita Dunn about Biden's decision to put on hold a weapons shipment to Israel: "Let's not forget there are more Jewish voters who care about Israel than Muslim voters who care about Hamas" pic.twitter.com/HdeI9iOL3W
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) May 9, 2024
"Let's not forget there are more Jewish voters who care about Israel than Muslim voters who care about Hamas," the letter read.