Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas on Sunday accused President Joe Biden of taking the side of Hamas in an effort to end the war in Gaza, which was started by Hamas when it slaughtered Israeli civilians on Oct. 7.
“Joe Biden's position is de facto for Hamas victory at this point. Israel's goal is to destroy Hamas, which committed the worst atrocity against Jews since World War II. Hamas's goal is to survive,” Cotton said on the CBS show “Face the Nation.”
“If Israel does not go into Rafah and destroy Hamas in Rafah, Hamas will survive,” he said.
Biden has said he would go so far as deny Israel the tools of war needed to attack Rafah.
Cotton denounced the current policy comments of the Biden administration on Hamas as a "bunch of weaselly, mealy-mouthed politics.”
Comments from Secretary of State Antony Blinken that paint both sides as having done wrong are “some magic talisman to help them walk the political line they want between the pro-Hamas wing of their party and the vast pro-Israel majority of the American people.”
Cotton said despite international condemnation for bombing the terrorists of Hamas, “Israel is doing more than any military in history, in all likelihood, to prevent civilian casualties.”
“If Hamas did not hide behind and under civilians, there would no - there would not be civilian casualties. For that matter, if Hamas simply surrendered and turned over all these hostages, there would be no more civilian suffering in Gaza,” he said.
Cotton accused Biden of imposing “a de facto arms embargo on Israel and sanctions on Israelis, noting that he just said last week that he's not going to send offensive weapons.”
“We have no idea what he's going to withhold,” he said.
Cotton noted that if America changes presidents after the November general election, the nation’s policy toward Israel would change as well.
“President Trump said just last night that he would absolutely provide Israel with the weapons they need to finish the job. This would have never happened on President Trump- Trump's watch, it didn't happen on his watch,” he said.
“And if he were president, this war would have probably already been over with much less civilian suffering in Gaza because he would have backed Israel to the hilt from the beginning,” Cotton added.
A report in The Washington Post said that U.S. intelligence agencies are working with Israel to pinpoint the locations of key Hamas leaders as a way to avert a broad-based attack.
A report in the Times of Israel quoted Biden as saying if the hostages taken Oct. 7 are released, there could be a cease-fire.
“There would be a ceasefire tomorrow if Hamas would release the hostages,” Biden said at a fundraiser.
“Israel said it’s up to Hamas; if they wanted to do it, we could end it tomorrow. And the cease-fire would begin tomorrow,” Biden said.
Last week, Hamas admitted that in offering to exchange 33 hostages as part of a deal, not all the hostages exchanged would be alive, according to The New York Times.
