Sen. Chris Coons on Sunday defended how President Biden has handled Israel amid its war with Hamas, as the president faces criticism for looking into how Israel has conducted its fight.
On ABC’s “This Week,” Mr. Coons said he disagreed with fellow Democrat Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who said the Biden administration doesn’t want to hold the Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accountable for killing civilians in Gaza.
“I think President Biden has taken forceful action,” the Delaware Democrat said. “So much so there’s been a lot of blowback for his recent public statement. And I’ll remind you, other American presidents have done the same thing when a close, trusted partner isn’t listening to private admonitions.”
The Biden administration said in a State Department report last week that it’s “reasonable to assess” that Israel has used U.S. weapons in a way that violates international humanitarian law. The report did not specifically say Israel has violated any law.
Mr. Coons said Mr. Van Hollen’s criticism of the president “misses the point.”
“President Biden has, over and over, urged the far-right government of Prime Minister Netanyahu to take the appropriate action and have now publicly said what the consequences will be,” the senator said.
He said Congress will be “looking closely at the path forward” Mr. Netanyahu takes.
Mr. Biden said last week that he would pause shipment of weapons to Israel if Mr. Netanyahu orders another assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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