Republicans in Congress and the Israeli government sharply criticized the Biden administration for abstaining in a United Nations vote calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The lack of a veto over the measure also led Israel to announce that it was withdrawing a planned diplomatic mission to Washington set for later this week.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) wrote on social media that President Joe Biden initially supported Israel.
“But it was just words from a failed politician,” he said. “After a few bad polls, he has decided to throw Israel under the bus.”
“It’s disgraceful that Biden’s entire electoral strategy relies on his Department of Justice prosecuting Donald Trump,” Cotton wrote. “More befitting of a banana republic than America.”
“President Biden’s lack of leadership and inaction at the UN are a disgrace,” said Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC). “Instead of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with our great ally, the Biden administration has undermined Israel and emboldened Hamas terrorists at every turn.”
“Today, the Biden Administration Facilitated the passage of pro-Hamas United Nations Resolution,” wrote Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). “I am calling on the administration officials, including and especially State Department officials, to reverse these reckless and catastrophic policies.”
The Israeli delegation was planning to discuss the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, including Israel’s plan to strike Rafah, the last major stronghold of the Hamas terrorist organization.
Biden previously called a potential attack on Rafah a “red line.” Despite this, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his government would seize the city in the future regardless of American diplomatic pressure.
Despite reports that the Delegation led by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant would no longer be Meeting with U.S. Officials in Washington, D.C. due to the United States having Abstained in a U.N. Security Council Resolution Vote earlier today against Israel; White House… pic.twitter.com/0QelAQfvYm
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 25, 2024
The Israeli diplomats were set to discuss the upcoming attack on Rafah, but instead will not be coming to Washington. Netanyahu’s office wrote that the U.S. abstention was a “clear withdrawal from the US’s consistent position in the Security Council since the beginning of the war.”
“This withdrawal damages both the war effort and the effort to release the hostages because it gives Hamas hope that international pressure will allow them to accept a ceasefire without the release of our hostages,” said Netanyahu’s office.
