Republicans question Biden's 'ironclad' commitment to Israel over shipment halt

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Mike Johnson penned a letter to President Biden on Wednesday where the leaders questioned the in-progress reviews of Israel's wartime conduct following the announcement of a delay in arms shipment to Israel pending its operation in Rafah. 

McConnell and Johnson said they have not been able to obtain pertinent information from the Department of State or the Pentagon regarding the ongoing review of Israel's assurances that it's following US and international law. 

The State Department was slated to release its review of Israel's assurances to Congress on Wednesday but said the report will be out "in the coming days."

The letter said the American public deserves to understand the "nature, timing and scope of these reviews."

McConnell and Johnson called for the White House's response by the end of the week on the timing of the report, if other shipments will be similarly delayed, what office is responsible for conducting the review and when the review is anticipated to end to allow the arms assistance to move forward.  

"Israel faces an existential and multi-front threat as recently demonstrated by the direct attack by Iran and Iranian-backed terrorists, and daylight between the United States and Israel at this dangerous time risks emboldening Israel's enemies and undermining the trust that other allies and partners have in the United States," the letter said.

Israel is an urgent priority

The Republican leaders noted that while the assistance funded by the supplemental appropriations bill will not be impacted, security assistance to Israel is an urgent priority that must not be delayed. 

"These recent press reports and pauses in critical weapons shipments call into question your pledge that your commitment to Israel's security will remain ironclad," the letter said. 

The leaders said they expect the Biden administration to push "departments, agencies and industry" to expedite contracting, production and delivery of weapons and munitions "critical to defense of the United States and free world."

Earlier Wednesday, during the Senate Republican leadership's news conference, McConnell said he spoke to both Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in the past 24 hours to express his concern that delaying the shipment of weapons to Israel is just another way of trying to govern how an ally conducts its war. 

"This is obviously an extremely challenging situation," McConnell said. "I think the last thing we ought to be doing is telling our Democratic allies you ought to have an election or you ought not to conduct this war in a certain way."