Lindsey Graham Says He Trusts Israel More Than America’s Own Secretary of Defense

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and other Republican senators spoke out Thursday against President Joe Biden’s threat to withhold certain weapons to Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders an invasion of Rafah.

Rafah is considered to be a Hamas stronghold, and is also where more than a million Palestinians are sheltering. Biden spoke with CNN’s Erin Burnett Wednesday to denounce Israel’s plans to stage a large-scale assault on the Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip.

At a press conference, Graham looked into the camera and addressed Biden directly, saying, “Mr. President if you do not change this policy, you will have destroyed the last best chance to deliver lasting stability in the Mideast for generations.” Graham continued:

Saudi Arabia is watching. Would you as a nation sign a defense agreement with the United States knowing what we have just done to Israel? Is signing on the dotted line with the United States on a mutual defense agreement equivalent with outsourcing your national security to the United States? That is the message you’re sending. Israel is being asked to turn the war fighting over to the United States. “Let us plan how to do this, not you.” That is a huge mistake.

Number one, I trust Israel more than I trust [Defense Secretary Lloyd] Austin. He still said Afghanistan withdrawal was a good idea. Bottom line, there’s a lot at stake here. I think the region and the world is going to second-guess future relationships with us, Mr. President, if you don’t change your mind.

In his CNN interview, Biden said, “We’re going to continue to make sure Israel is secure in terms of Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks that came out of the Middle East recently. But it’s, it’s just wrong. We’re not going to – we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells” for a Rafa invasion.

Netanyahu said in a statement, “If we need to stand alone, we will stand alone. I have said that, if necessary, we will fight with our fingernails. But we have much more than fingernails and with that same strength of spirit, with God’s help, together we will win.”

Watch the clip above via Scripps News.

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