Top House Armed Services Dem: Pausing Weapons to Israel Risks Israel's Ability to Deter Iran, Their Proxies

On Monday's broadcast of CNN's “OutFront,” House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) stated that while Israel can launch a major offensive in Rafah without new American weapons, whether Israel can “adequately deter all of the different entities who want to attack it, Iran, Hezbollah, the Houthis, various other militia groups without that support” is “a much tougher question.”

Smith said, “Prime Minister Netanyahu has put Israel, the U.S., and the entire Middle East in a very difficult place. We do not want to withdraw support from Israel, at least I don't and the president doesn't. We saw that when Iran attacked Israel a few weeks ago, if we are not able to help Israel defend itself, this war could spread as Iran and Hezbollah decide to jump into that void. But, at the same time, Prime Minister Netanyahu is pursuing a strategy that is not in the best interests of Israel and not in the best interests of peace. He has no plan for a post-Hamas Gaza. So, the president has been trying every lever we have to change that. But we don't really have the power to just force them to do something differently, and as I said, completely abandoning them comes with a high amount of risk for peace in the region as well. That's what President Biden's trying to navigate.”

Host Erin Burnett then asked, “[C]an Israel go it alone, even if it's using stockpiled U.S. weapons, but can they do it, could they do a major offensive in Rafah without additional new U.S. weapons?”

Smith answered, “Yeah, absolutely. They could absolutely do that. The better question is, could Israel adequately deter all of the different entities who want to attack it, Iran, Hezbollah, the Houthis, various other militia groups without that support? That's a much tougher question. Yes, Israel could go into Rafah without U.S. support, no question about it.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

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