US reportedly considers using weapons as leverage to force Israel to ease up, while Bibi says war is going ‘better than many expected’
NY Post
The White House is reportedly weighing using its weapons sales to Israel as a bargaining chip to try to force it to de-escalate the Gaza conflict — while Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu claims the war is going “better than many expected.”
President Biden’s team recently directed Pentagon officials to review the additional US weaponry requested by Israel to see if it might be used to pressure the Jewish country to scale back its war against Palestinian Gaza, NBC reported Sunday, citing three current US officials and one former American one.
The White House responded later Sunday by saying there has been no change “in our policy.
“Israel has a right and obligation to defend themselves against the threat of Hamas, while abiding by international humanitarian law and protecting civilian lives, and we remain committed to support Israel in its fight against Hamas,” the White House National Security Council said in a statement.
“We have done so since Oct. 7, and will continue to. There has not been a change in our policy,” the council added, referring to the October slaughter of more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in Israel by the Palestinian terror group Hamas, a massacre that sparked the war.
But the NBC sources claim that the Biden administration has considered slowing or pausing the deliveries of weapons being sought by Israel.
