Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) criticized President Joe Biden while addressing Israeli lawmakers in the Jewish state on Sunday.
Stefanik, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, targeted Biden’s policies, particularly his decision to withhold offensive weaponry from Israel over its impending major offensive in Rafah.
I have been clear at home and I will be clear here: There is no excuse for an American president to block aid to Israel – aid that was duly passed by the Congress. There is no excuse to ease sanctions on Iran, paying a $6 billion ransom to the world’s leading state sponsor of… pic.twitter.com/z8rAeeghMh
— Rep. Elise Stefanik (@RepStefanik) May 19, 2024
“I have been clear at home, and I will be clear here: There is no excuse for an American president to block aid to Israel, aid that was duly passed by the Congress. There is no excuse to ease sanctions on Iran, paying a $6 billion ransom to the world’s leading state sponsor of terror, or to dither and hide while our friends fight for their lives. No excuse. Full stop,” Stefanik said.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates defended Biden in a statement to CNN on Sunday, saying that “there has been no better friend to Israel than President Biden.”
“He was the first American president to visit Israel during war time – in the aftermath of the horrific October 7 terrorist attacks – and the first president to order the US military to defend Israel from a foreign nation’s attack. As he has demonstrated, President Biden’s support for Israel’s security is ‘ironclad,’” Bates told the outlet.
“Unlike some figures on the right, President Biden did not rail against the Israeli government in the days after October 7, nor has he ever praised terrorist organizations like Hezbollah – and he will not be lectured by any person who was silent in the face of those offensive statements,” he added.
Stefanik, on the other hand, highlighted Trump’s policies on Israel and positioned herself as a “leading proponent and partner” of the former president. The New York congresswoman has been considered a potential running mate for Trump in November.
She said Israel needs “total victory” because antisemitism is rising globally.
“The enemy is inside more than just the gates of the United Nations. It is also in powerful Western institutions in my country and beyond, where the virus, the vile virus of antisemitism, is spreading. This is why total victory means not just physical self-defense but ideological self-defense,” Stefanik said.
The war in Gaza has been ongoing since Oct. 7, when Hamas terrorists launched multiple attacks on Israel.
