Biden faces bipartisan pushback over threat to cut off weapons for Israel

By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter Friday, May 10, 2024

Jared Moskowitz

Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., said Wednesday that the Biden administration is attempting to send Israel a "message" about its use of force but added that "Hamas is also getting the message ... and that means the war is going to go on."

Moskowitz is one of the co-sponsors of the Antisemitism Awareness Act passed by the House earlier this month. The bill would require the U.S. Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of antisemitism when enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws.

Before Biden's interview, Moskowitz told Jewish Insider in an interview published Wednesday that a pause on shipments to Israel could reduce the incentive for Hamas to release the remaining hostages. The lawmaker was commenting on previous discussions from the administration to halt offensive weapons transfers to Israel.

"The hope by now is that we would have gotten to a ceasefire and the Rafah operation would not have been necessary in exchange for at least some hostages. But the problem is there's no pressure on Hamas," Moskowitz said. "If Hamas is watching American television, which I guarantee you they are, they're seeing more division and their power growing in this country, which means less pressure on Hamas. … The only pressure that is left is the military pressure."

The Democratic lawmaker added that pausing the transfer of offensive weaponry is "not helpful to get us to a ceasefire" because it makes Hamas think, "We don't need to rush; there's no pressure."

Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman