On Tuesday, May 14, Biden began to move forward with a one billion dollar arms deal for Israel, despite the administration’s threats to withhold weapons shipments due to ongoing Israeli aggression in Rafah. Israeli Occupation Forces entered residential areas of Rafah, also on May 14.
The arms sale potentially includes USD 700 million in tank ammunition, USD 500 million in tactical vehicles and USD 60 million in mortar rounds. Just last week, the United States Department of Defense acknowledged in an official report that Israel likely used US-supplied weapons to commit crimes under international law.
Throughout the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza, US officials have made several seemingly harsh public criticisms of the Israel administration. Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader and one of the most outspoken Israel supporters in Congress, appeared to openly call for regime change in Israel a few months ago in his denunciations of Netanyahu. A few days ago, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the United States believes that Israel should “get out of Gaza.” Biden himself has raised repeated concerns regarding Netanyahu’s leadership.
In response to the billion dollar arms deal, some are laying the blame for the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people squarely on the shoulders of the United States. “This is Biden’s genocide,” writes Layan Fuleihan of the People’s Forum, an organization that is part of the wider Shut it Down for Palestine coalition that has lead mass mobilizations in solidarity with Palestine throughout the US. “[Biden] has no real difference with Netanyahu and certainly no discomfort with more massacre of Palestinians. In fact his only problem with Netanyahu is that he is losing the battle and unable to crush the Palestinian resistance.”
