Biden faces bipartisan pushback over threat to cut off weapons for Israel
Lindsey Graham
Rep. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., questioned Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing about the Defense Department budget. Graham asked if Austin believed Iran and Hamas wanted to "kill all the Jews" and destroy Israel.
Austin answered, "I do." The defense secretary also agreed that Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terror group, is "bent on the destruction of the Jewish state."
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Last month, Iran launched around 300 missiles and drones toward Israel, raising concerns about further escalation of an already tense situation.
"OK, so Israel's been hit in the last few weeks by Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas, dedicated to their destruction," Graham said. "And you're telling me you're going to tell them how to fight the war, and what they can and can't use when everybody around them wants to kill all the Jews? And you're telling me that if we withhold weapons in this fight — the existential fight for the life of the Jewish state — it won't send the wrong signal?"
"If we stop weapons necessary to destroy the enemies of the state of Israel at a time of great peril, we will pay a price," he continued. "This is obscene. It is absurd. Give Israel what they need to fight the war. They can't afford to lose. This is Hiroshima and Nagasaki on steroids."
In a Wednesday interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, Graham said that he was "heartbroken" over Biden's promise to withhold weapons from Israel. The Republican lawmaker accused Biden of "asking the Israelis to turn the war over to him and Lloyd Austin."
"To my friends in Israel, don't do that. Fight without the weapons," Graham said. "Do not let Joe Biden and Lloyd Austin run this war. They will do for you what they've done for America."
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
