Halting arms shipments to Israel could “significantly affect military objectives”: Israel’s UN ambassador

Halting arms shipments to Israel could “significantly affect military objectives”: Israel’s UN ambassador

A halt to arms shipments from the US could “harm” Israel’s ability to “achieve military objectives,” Israel’s UN ambassador said on Thursday.

Gilad Erdan responded to President Joe Biden’s statement on Wednesday that he would halt some US arms shipments to Israel if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a massive invasion of the Gaza city of Rafah.

Erdan told Israel’s public broadcaster Kan 11 that Biden’s decision “may hinder Israel or at least significantly affect Israel’s ability to achieve one of the main goals of this war, which is the overthrow of the Hamas government.”

“I do not believe there is any bad intention behind this, but it is clear that any limitation on Israel, which comes from its allies, is interpreted by its enemies as something that gives them hope of success in their actions. It can encourage the enemies of the State of Israel and the state of Israel,” Erdan said.
Biden acknowledged on Wednesday that American weapons had been used to kill civilians in Gaza – an acknowledgment of the US role in the war.

“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a result of those bombs and the other way they’ve gone after population centers,” Biden told CNN’s Erin Burnett in an exclusive interview, referring to the 2,000-pound bomb that Biden stopped shipping last week.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday the US was halting shipments of “high payload ammunition” because of a possible Israeli operation in Rafah without plans for civilians there.