House Speaker urges US president to 'stand with Israel'

WASHINGTON

House Speaker Mike Johnson urged US President Joe Biden on Wednesday to "stand with Israel" after the White House said it "strongly opposes" a bill that would force arms shipments to Israel.

"President Biden has turned his back on Israel and is now carrying water for Hamas and Iran. He has refused to enforce oil sanctions on Iran, allowed our ballistic missile sanctions there to expire, and done nothing about Iran’s dangerous nuclear buildup," Johnson said in a statement.

The statement came one day after the White House announced Biden would veto the Israel Security Assistance Support Act, which if signed into law, would compel the US to send defense weapons to Israel.

"The Administration strongly opposes H.R. 8369, the Israel Security Assistance Support Act, which seeks to limit the President’s discretion to ensure that the delivery of certain defense articles and services aligns with U.S. foreign policy objectives," the White House said of the administration’s policy, commenting on a House version of the bill.

Johnson said Biden took "no decisive action when Iran was planning to attack Israel, and now that Israel is fighting for its very survival, he is withholding weapons and threatening to veto legislation that would give the Israelis what they need to adequately defend themselves."

"The president and his administration need to reverse course immediately to stand with Israel and against the terrorism and atrocities of Iran and its proxies," he added.

The House of Representatives plans to vote this week on the Republican-led bill which came after Biden told CNN last week that he paused arms shipments to Israel amid concerns about its offensive on Gaza's southern city of Rafah, where 1.5 million displaced Palestinians have sheltered from Israel’s onslaught on the enclave.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration notified Congress on Tuesday about a new more than $1 billion arms package -- to include $700 million for tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles and $60 million in mortar rounds -- it plans to deliver to Israel, according to the media reports.