{"id":2249823,"date":"2024-05-21T18:51:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-21T22:51:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/blinken-laments-revelation-of-threat-to-withhold-weapons-from-israel\/"},"modified":"2024-05-21T18:53:19","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T22:53:19","slug":"blinken-laments-revelation-of-threat-to-withhold-weapons-from-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/blinken-laments-revelation-of-threat-to-withhold-weapons-from-israel\/","title":{"rendered":"Blinken expresses concern over threat to withhold Israeli weapons"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fblinken-laments-revelation-of-threat-to-withhold-weapons-from-israel%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2249823&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed\u200b concern over President Joe Biden considering withholding arms shipments to\u200c Israel amidst debates on aiding \u200dHamas. Blinken \u200bdefended \u2064the policy discussions but acknowledged the\u2062 impact of such actions. This move arose from worries about\u200d civilian casualties \u200bin a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-posts-exonerating-evidence-before-appearing-in-court\/\" title=\"Trump shares 'exonerating' evidence ahead of court appearance.\">potential military operation<\/a>. The\u2063 dispute marked\u200c a shift in U.S.-Israeli relations amid escalating \u2062tensions over \u200dGaza.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Secretary of State <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Antony-Blinken\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Antony Blinken<\/a> lamented the revelation that President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Joe-Biden\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Joe Biden<\/a> had threatened to withhold some arms shipments to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Israel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Israel<\/a> amid a wider debate about whether such conditions help <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Hamas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Hamas<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLeaks are an unfortunate part of the business that we\u2019re all engaged in,\u201d Blinken said during a Senate Foreign Relations hearing on Tuesday. \u201cIt\u2019s really regrettable, but it happens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That lament was how Blinken responded when asked whether the threat to withhold weapons from Israel over a dispute about a potential military operation had \u201cstrengthen[ed] Hamas\u2019s hand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Blinken seemed to acknowledge that downside but defended the substance of the policy debate behind closed doors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have one weapons system that we have been holding back, pending discussions with Israel, about how and where it would be used because of the concerns that we\u2019ve clearly expressed over many months about the possibility of a full-on military assault on Rafah, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-cruz-grills-blinken-over-bidens-disaster-in-afghanistan\/\" title=\"WATCH: Cruz Grills Blinken Over Biden\u2019s Disaster In Afghanistan\">dense urban environment<\/a> where using something like a 2,000-pound bomb could have terrible consequences for the civilians,\u201d Blinken said. \u201cThis is something that needed to be discussed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2024\/05\/08\/politics\/joe-biden-interview-cnntv\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\">warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> that he would not authorize the delivery of heavy bombs for use in Rafah amid a growing anxiety that the Israeli leader would launch a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/speaker-johnson-accuses-biden-of-betrayal-hopes-israel-aid-threat-was-senior-moment\/\" title=\"Speaker Johnson accuses Biden of betrayal over Israel aid threat, hopes it was just a 'senior moment.\">full-scale ground operation<\/a> in the city over U.S. objections. That disagreement represented a milestone in U.S.-Israeli relations after months of growing Western discomfort with the civilian toll of the war in Gaza, but it also fostered acrimony in Jerusalem and Washington, D.C., where Biden faced charges of breaking with Israel to Hamas\u2019s advantage. <\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Secretary of State Antony Blinken reads documents during a Senate Foreign Relations hearing to examine the President\u2019s proposed budget request for fiscal 2025 for the Department of State, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, May 21, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Mariam Zuhaib)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Israel has drawn increasingly vociferous criticism over its prosecution of the war in Gaza, where the population density and Hamas\u2019s entrenchment in and around civilian infrastructure has resulted in thousands of civilian casualties. Blinken has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/secretary-antony-j-blinken-at-a-press-availability-43\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>condemned<\/a> the terrorist organization for \u201cusing civilians as human shields,\u201d but U.S. officials also have suggested that it is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/foreign-policy\/3000381\/hamas-human-shields-tough-conclude-israel-violate-international-law-us-says\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>\u201creasonable to assess\u201d <\/a>that Israel has violated international law in the war. <\/p>\n<p>That dynamic has been complicated by Hamas\u2019s unwillingness to accept a short-term ceasefire deal to release the scores of hostages seized on Oct. 7. The terrorist leaders are using the hostages as leverage to demand a complete end to the war and the withdrawal of the Israeli military from Gaza, among other conditions, a tactic that British Foreign Secretary David Cameron cited to explain the United Kingdom\u2019s refusal to impose an arms embargo on Israel. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust to simply announce today that we will change our approach on arms exports, it would make Hamas stronger, and it would make a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/iranian-terrorists-will-get-billions-of-dollars-before-congress-can-review-new-nuclear-deal\/\" title=\"Iranian Terrorists Will Get Billions of Dollars Before Congress Can Review New Nuclear Deal\">hostage deal<\/a> less likely,\u201d Cameron <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/uk-politics-68999212\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>told<\/a> the BBC in a recent interview.<\/p>\n<p>Just as Biden\u2019s threat to withhold that military assistance resulted in pressure on Cameron to explain why London would not follow suit, the British diplomatic chief\u2019s response put Blinken in a difficult position.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlease explain why \u2026 Lord Cameron, who is the foreign minister of one of our closest allies, is wrong when he says that blocking weapons to Israel would strengthen Hamas\u2019s hand,\u201d Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) asked Blinken.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Blinken countered by emphasizing the support that Biden has provided to Israel before implicitly acknowledging that the publicity around the weapons shipment has redounded to Hamas\u2019s advantage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s deeply unfortunate that that discussion leaked to the press, when it was a private discussion between U.S. and Israel,\u201d Blinken said. \u201cIt did. And when the president was asked about it, he responded forthrightly, but there\u2019s no final decision, and it remains subject to a discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed regret over the disclosure that President Biden considered withholding certain arms supplies to Israel. The issue sparked debates on aiding Hamas. Blinken stated during a Senate hearing, &#8220;Leaks are regrettable in our line of work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2743,"featured_media":2249824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/blinken-2.jpeg.optimal.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2249823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/blinken-2.jpeg.optimal.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2249823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2743"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2249823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2249823\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2249824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2249823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2249823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2249823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}