By Secretary Robert Wilkie joins Flash Focus to discuss the Biden Administration’s unprecedented move to threaten an arms embargo of Israel, a vital U.S. partner in the Middle East currently embroiled in war. In order to defeat Hamas in Gaza, it is imperative that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) eliminate Hamas’s final brigade in Rafah. Efforts by the United States to delay or obstruct such an operation, including the Biden Administration’s most recent pause on sending critical armaments, will only bolster Hamas and prolong the suffering of civilians. Ironically, the Administration has halted the delivery of precision-guided munitions (PGMs) crucial for the IDF to accurately target Hamas terrorists while minimizing civilian casualties. Furthermore, publicly rejecting a partner’s self-defense endeavors, President Biden risks emboldening U.S. adversaries and further destabilizing the region.
Secretary Wilkie, Distinguished Fellow at the America First Policy Institute, former Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and member of the Vandenberg Coalition’s advisory board, assesses the consequences of such steps by the U.S. Administration, especially as Israel begins its major combat operation against Hamas’s last standing brigade in Rafah. Secretary Wilkie will speak on how withholding military armaments from Israel is indeed counterproductive, likely only to strengthen Hamas, embolden Iran and its proxy groups, and prolong the suffering of civilians in Gaza.
Jump to:
00:02:16 Biden’s weapons pause & its implications for the IDF
00:08:48 History of governmental withholding of foreign military sales
00:13:56 Exacerbation of civilian suffering in Gaza
00:17:48 U.S. policy emboldening Hamas & destabilizing the region
00:22:13 Impact of diminishing U.S. support for Israel
00:23:58 Policy predictions of a second Trump presidency
