Biden's hold on Israel weapons shipment stuns retired US general: 'This is a turning point'
US adversaries view move as 'walking away from an ally,' Gen. Keane tells 'Fox & Friends'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Biden administration's decision to withhold weapons from Israel if the Rafah invasion moves forward is sending a dangerous message to American adversaries, and Gen. Jack Keane (Ret.) questioned whether the president considered the potential consequences. On "Fox & Friends" Friday, the Fox News senior strategic analyst argued Biden is "walking away from Israel," and called Biden's decision "stunning."
GEN. JACK KEANE: In terms of the arms themselves, Israel has plenty of weapons systems and ammunition available to complete the operation in Rafah, but it is a major turning point. The administration has been hinting at this for weeks, but still when they made the decision, I still found this shocking. And I just scratch my head and say, ‘Do these guys actually think about what the consequences are of this kind of decision?’ What does it mean for our allies like Ukraine and Taiwan when they see us pulling back on our number one ally in the Middle East, a country we've had the closest relationship with for 75 years, ever since Israel became a state.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on buildings near the separating wall between Egypt and Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, May 7. (AP/Ramez Habboub)
And it comes on the heels of a U.S.-led coalition to help defend Israel against Iranian ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. It is a stunning decision. And our adversaries, I think they look at it much like we did with Afghanistan. And they look at it – the United States pulled out of Afghanistan, walking away from an ally we've been dealing with for 20 years, fighting side-by-side, and helped surrender the country to the enemy. And here we are walking away from Israel? And our adversaries look at that, and they see it as weakness, obviously.
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We should stay out of micromanaging an operational campaign. I mean, strategic issues, I understand that completely, but not this. And it makes no sense whatsoever. And what's so disappointing is every speech that President Biden makes dealing with the issue of the war in Gaza, he should always have a part of that speech, that this is an existential threat to the state of Israel. We have not seen a threat like this since its inception in 1948. Iran has a ring of fire and operationalize its proxies around Israel, and they're trying to destroy the state of Israel. And we should be doing everything we can to help protect and prevent that from happening.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and U.S. President Joe Biden (right). ((Fox News/Getty Images))
President Biden is vowing to withhold weapons from Israel if the Jewish State goes forward with its invasion of Rafah, Hamas' last stronghold in Gaza.
"Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers," Biden told CNN’s Erin Burnett in an interview released Wednesday.
"I made it clear that if they go into Rafah – they haven’t gone in Rafah yet – if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities – that deal with that problem," Biden said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Biden clarified that the U.S. will continue sending defensive weapons to Israel, like supplies for Israel's Iron Dome.
DEMOCRATS BLOW UP AT BIDEN FOR HALTING WEAPONS SHIPMENTS TO ISRAEL
"We’re going to continue to make sure Israel is secure in terms of Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks that came out of the Middle East recently," Biden told CNN. "But it’s, it’s just wrong. We’re not going to – we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Israel has taken military action in Rafah, but according to Biden, they have yet to cross his red line in entering population centers.
The ongoing Israel-Hamas war appears to be making a major impact on the upcoming presidential election. Biden has faced intense backlash from the progressive left for providing aid to Israel, leaving voters in critical swing states like Michigan threatening to stay home in November or to cast their ballot for another candidate.
Fox News' Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
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