A group of 26 House Democrats sent a letter to Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security advisor, on Friday expressing concern about U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to withhold weapons shipments to Israel.
“We are deeply concerned about the message the administration is sending to Hamas and other Iranian-backed terrorist proxies by withholding weapons shipments to Israel, during a critical moment in the negotiations,” wrote the House members, led by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Jared Golden (D-Maine).
With Jew-hatred “spreading globally like wildfire,” the 26 representatives “fear that public disputes with our critical ally only emboldens our mutual enemies, including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and other Iranian-backed proxies.”
“It also buttresses their agenda of chaos, brutality and hate, and makes a hostage agreement even harder to achieve,” they wrote. “Hamas still holds more than 130 hostages, including eight Americans, five of whom may still be alive.”
“The president’s unyielding commitment to passing emergency supplemental funding for Israel showed the world our commitment,” they added. “When we abandon these duties, we leave a vacuum of American leadership for our anti-democratic adversaries to fill.”
The 26 asked Sullivan for a classified briefing “about your decision and to better understand how and when the aid that Congress has authorized and appropriated for Israel will be delivered.”
