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SALT LAKE CITY — As tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate, 48 Republican senators, including Utah Sens. Mike Lee and Mitt Romney, called on the Biden administration to lift its "partial arms embargo against Israel," saying the administration's actions are threatening the security of Israelis and American military members.
In the letter sent Friday to President Joe Biden, the senators say Iran is responsible along with Hezbollah for the rocket attack on northern Israel that killed 12 Druze children on July 27.
"However, while Tehran financed the attack and Hezbollah conducted it, your fear of escalation has left Israel exposed and our enemies emboldened," the senators say to Biden.
The senators say the administration's actions are "endangering our greatest ally in the Middle East and jeopardizing the lives of our American servicemembers stationed in the region."
In the week following the northern Israel attack, Israel killed Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah commander also wanted by the U.S. for a 1983 attack on U.S. Marines, in a targeted strike on an apartment building in Beirut, Lebanon. A day later, Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas political leader, was assassinated while in Tehran, Iran. Israel is believed to be behind the killing of Haniyeh.
As Israel waits to see if Iran will retaliate, a Pentagon spokesperson said Friday the U.S. would make "adjustments to U.S. military posture" in the Middle East to "increase support for the defense of Israel and to ensure the United States is prepared to respond to various contingencies." The adjustments include maintaining a carrier in the region, while adding additional cruisers and destroyers, as well as an additional fighter squadron.
Senators detail military equipment
In their letter, the senators include a list of military equipment they say Biden is withholding from Israel.
"When Prime Minister Netanyahu publicly raised the weapons hold in June, your administration adamantly denied the accusation," the letter says, going on to list letters from several senators they say Biden "ignored" on the issue.
"All the while, you were deliberately delaying the delivery of weapons, ammunition, and equipment to Israel. These include 120mm tank ammunition, 120mm mortar ammunition, light tactical vehicles, air to air missiles, F-15s, F-35 engines, joint direct attack munition kits, 2,000 pound bombs, rifles, and guided missile systems," it continues.
Republicans and others have accused the Biden administration of being too friendly to Iran, particularly over the administration's decision to relax sanctions and unfreeze billions of dollars in Iranian oil revenue.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in July that Iran only needs one to two weeks to produce enough weapons grade material for a nuclear bomb.
"Iran, because the nuclear agreement was thrown out, instead of being at least a year away from having the breakout capacity of producing fissile material for a nuclear weapon, is now probably one or two weeks away from doing that," he said at the Aspen Security Forum, according to CNN.
"They haven't produced a weapon itself, but that's something of course that we track very, very carefully," Blinken said.
