Former national security adviser John Bolton criticized President Biden after he threatened to halt weapons to Israel pending an invasion of Rafah, with Bolton calling it an unprecedented break in allyship.
Bolton joined John Catsimatidis on “The Cats Roundtable” on WABC 770 AM, where he highlighted how the U.S. interference in the Israel-Hamas war has “come to an amazing point.”
On Wednesday, Biden declared that if Israel goes into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a million people are seeking refuge, the U.S. will not supply the weapons.
“This is the kind of break between the U.S. and Israel that is just unprecedented, to put this sort of pressure on an American ally like that in the middle of what they see as an existential threat,” Bolton said.
Bolton continued, saying people think Biden made the declaration because he is responding to pressure from “the left wing of the Democratic Party and the concern that they would stay home in November” and not vote for him.
He predicted there’s likely a lot going on behind the scenes, because the Israeli government hasn’t responded directly to what Biden had to say.
In remarks delivered last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would stand alone if it had to.
Still, Bolton said he’s never seen anything like Biden’s threat, essentially saying it would cut Israel “loose if they proceed.” He argued that this is a signal of weakness on Biden’s behalf and sends “a very bad” message to Russia and China.
“I mean, if we won’t come to Israel’s support, what are we going to do … if Russia or China threatened countries along their borders that are not so close to the United States?” he said. “I mean, people have to wonder … if we’re not going to follow through on our commitments to Israel, who will we follow through on?”