WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, joined Martha MacCallum on Fox News Sunday yesterday, where he discussed President Biden’s support of Israel's war against Hamas.
Senator Coons highlighted President Biden’s steadfast support for Israel, which includes signing the Senate-approved spending package into law, fully funding the U.S. security commitment of $3.8 billion for Israel. Senator Coons also urged House Speaker Mike Johnson to put the Senate’s supplemental package requested by President Biden up for a vote this week, which would provide $14 billion to Israel, as well as $60 billion in aid for Ukraine and additional humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.
Watch the full interview here.
Martha MacCallum: So, we saw hundreds of thousands vote uncommitted against, essentially, President Biden. We’ve heard for quite a while about the tensions that exist within the White House. The President initially said he was rock solid in support of Israel’s efforts here. Have the protestors won at the White House?
Senator Coons: No, let me remind you what just happened. Two weeks ago, President Biden signed into law our annual appropriations bill that includes $3.8 billion dollars in support for Israel. I think this is a tactical disagreement that began with Prime Minister Netanyahu insisting he would go into Rafah. Let me remind you, in Rafah there’s more than a million Palestinian civilians who have fled from the north and the center of Gaza. They are now trapped up with the hard border with Egypt.
And what I’ve been saying and what I believe President Biden has been saying directly to Prime Minister Netanyahu is, before you go in at scale and try to finish the job against Hamas, make sure that you allow for humanitarian aid and for those civilians trapped in Rafah to move out of the way before you conduct this last stage of the ground campaign. That’s what I understand the disagreement to be about.
Martha MacCallum: I want to ask you a quick question about Ukraine. But first I want to ask you this. What do you say to those who say that this move is going to be music to the ears for Hamas and for Iran, and that their ultimate goal of eradicating Israel from the Middle East, if they see the United States pressuring Israel to pull back, will be exactly what they want?
Senator Coons: Well, let’s move on to the supplemental which helps answer that question. The Senate, controlled by Democrats, passed with a big bipartisan margin a supplemental that President Biden requested that includes aid for Ukraine, humanitarian aid and $14 billion in additional support for Israel. It’s been waiting for action by the House for weeks now, and it’s my hope that Speaker Johnson will put it on the floor this week. It will show Iran strong bipartisan determination to continue to support Israel in the face of Iran’s threats if that supplemental passes the House this week.