Dem senators voice concerns over Israel war status as Biden attempts ‘challenging’ balance with progressives
Fox News
Senate Democrats expressed concerns over the status of the war between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas in Gaza Tuesday as President Biden looks to strike a balance between supporting the U.S. ally and addressing concerns of progressives and Arab and Muslim voters who have made their displeasure known amid the conflict.
“I don’t support a cease-fire. I’ve been very clear about that,” Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., told Fox News Digital Tuesday.
In a call last week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following an airstrike from the country that killed seven workers delivering food and aid in Gaza, Biden called for an immediate cease-fire to address the need to get aid to the war zone.
Biden’s move to endorse a cease-fire comes as pro-Palestinian protests have plagued his campaign events in recent months.
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“There’s been far too much civilian death right now,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said of the situation in Gaza. However, he credited Biden with increasing pressure on Israel with “an uptick in humanitarian deliveries in the last few days.”
Criticism over Biden’s backing of ally Israel has ramped up in recent days, as reports emerged of his anger and frustration over the country’s killing of several aid workers in Gaza. Last month, the U.S. allowed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire to pass, breaking from a streak of vetoing similar measures.
Netanyahu slammed the move, claiming at the time the “United States has abandoned its policy in the U.N. today. Just a few days ago, it supported a Security Council resolution that linked a call for a cease-fire to the release of hostages.”
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The prime minister attributed his cancellation of an Israeli delegation’s trip to Washington, D.C., to the resolution’s passage.
Just two weeks after Biden’s administration allowed the U.N. resolution to pass, Vice President Kamala Harris met with families of American hostages held in Gaza Tuesday. According to a readout from Harris’ office on the meeting, she updated the families on U.S. efforts to bring home all hostages and reaching an agreement for an immediate cease-fire.
A White House official shared that efforts are ongoing to secure the release of more hostages and noted that the passed U.N. resolution additionally called for the release of hostages. However, the resolution did not include condemnation of Hamas, which prompted criticism against the Biden administration.
At a Senate Republican lunch Tuesday, GOP conference Chairman John Barrasso, R-Wyo., circulated a document to his colleagues, listing “27 times Biden & Democrats abandoned Israel” since the initial Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
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The document, exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital, listed events, including the Biden administration urging Israel to end a ground campaign in Gaza last year and Senate Democrats in November voting against a stand-alone Israel aid bill that did not tie the assistance to aid for Ukraine.
“President Biden is demanding a highly damaging, unconditional cease-fire. Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress are equating Prime Minister Netanyahu to Hamas. These unprecedented actions undermine Israel’s mission to free the hostages and eliminate Hamas,” Barrasso told Fox News Digital in an exclusive statement.
Asked how Biden was handling support for Israel at the same time as addressing concerns for Palestinian civilians, Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said, “It’s a challenging situation.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., avoided criticizing Biden for his handling of the Israel-Hamas war, instead telling Fox News Digital, “I lay blame with the Netanyahu government that has created a humanitarian disaster and doing everything possible every single day to make it worse.”
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While Fetterman noted his disagreement with Biden on a cease-fire, he said, “Overall, I think the president has remained to stand with Israel.
“But we need to allow Israel to finish off and go after Hamas.”
While Democrats were hesitant to address Biden’s policy toward Israel directly, Senate Republicans were more than willing to slam the president for making decisions on the war based on “political calculus,” as Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, claimed.
“I think it’s really about trying to appease the increasingly vocal, frankly, pro-Hamas wing, I guess, of their party,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. “I mean, they must think that they have a lot of votes they need to open for them.”
According to Vance, Biden’s posture on the war is “completely inconsistent” today with what it was “two months ago.”
“And they’re doing it because they’re worried about losing certain populations in Michigan,” Vance claimed, likely referencing the significant Arab and Muslim populations in the state.
Since the onset of the war in Gaza, Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign has faced obstacles among Muslim supporters, who have claimed they are willing to turn their backs on him.
His campaign has also seen efforts rebuffed by Muslim leaders who have on multiple occasions refused to meet with the president’s team in campaign or official capacities.
The Biden campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., blasted Biden’s response to Israel’s strike that killed seven aid workers, claiming it was held to a “different standard.”
“Why don’t they tell us who got held accountable for the 13 people, warriors killed at the Kabul airport?” he asked, referencing the deaths of several service men and women during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, overseen by Biden.
Making a similar point, Fetterman explained, “I mean, terrible, terrible things often happen in a war situation, and we really cannot forget that this is all because of Hamas.” The senator referenced a U.S. drone strike in 2021 that mistakenly killed a number of Afghani civilians in a car.