Why we're still arming Israel

0:00Noel King:In late October 2023, about three weeks into Israel's war in Gaza, the Israeli military bombed a refugee camp called Jabalia, one of the most densely populated places on Earth. A witness described to CNN that it, quote, felt like the end of the world. Here they are, children. We are filling up bags with children. We are placing them in bags. It is horrible. It is horrifying. It is just shocking. Israel was targeting Hamas militants and said it killed several of them in Jabalia. 23 kids were also killed. The bombs were 2 ,000-pound American-made bunker busters. The Biden administration eventually stopped selling those to Israel over concerns they would be misused in other highly populated areas.

0:43Noel King:Now, President Trump wants to send more of those bombs to Israel, and American tax dollars are going to pay for them. Coming up on Today Explained from Vox, a new book documenting the failures of the Biden administration raises the question of why the U.S. is still arming Israel. Support for Today Explained comes from Adio. There are sales teams out there who never seem to stop moving, always a step ahead, always working with a level of precision that doesn't seem normal. They may be on Adio, the agentic CRM. Adio is built for humans and agents with the guardrails of human software and the scale of agentic infrastructure.

1:16Noel King:This is the frontier of go-to-market. Teams like Parallel, Turbo Puffer, and Wordsmith are already using Adio to set the pace. Now it's your turn. Try Adio for free by going to adio.com slash todayexplained. That's A-T-T-I-O dot com slash Today Explained.

1:58This is Today Explained. I'm Akbar Shahid Ahmed. I'm the diplomatic correspondent at The Washington Sun, and I'm the author of Crossing the Red Line, Biden, his advisors, and Israel's war in Gaza.

2:14Noel King:Your book is called Crossing the Red Line, and the red line refers to something specific. What was it and what happened? President Joe Biden, six months into Israel's retaliatory campaign after October 7th, clearly said the way that the Israeli offensive in Gaza had gone was excessive. He said that Rafa, the southernmost town in Gaza, which by that point, March of 2024, the Israelis had not yet attacked, needed to be treated differently. It was a place where upwards of one million Palestinians were by then sheltering. And it was the only entry point for goods, humanitarian aid, aid workers into Gaza that weren't controlled by Israel, a combatant.

2:59So President Biden said, if the Israelis don't create a plan for those civilians in Rafah and treat it differently than the rest of Gaza, I'm going to cut off American weapons. This was major because it represented the Biden administration's own acknowledgement, their persuasion campaign wasn't enough to change Israeli behavior, and they might have to threaten actual tangible consequences like withholding bombs. I focus on that red line moment because what happened then, Noel, is that the Biden administration was feckless, callous, and ultimately, frankly, dishonest about what happened in Rafa once Israel went in, crossed that red line in May of 2024.

3:40Flames raged through a camp for displaced Palestinians. After an Israeli airstrike triggered a massive blaze. Civilians burnt alive. And children decapitated. How does this not violate the red line that the president laid out? As I said, we don't want to see a major ground operation. We haven't seen that at this point. The Biden administration notified lawmakers that it is sending more than$1 billion in tank ammunition, tactical vehicles and mortar rounds to Israel. You had the Biden administration both fail to apply the consequences they themselves promised, but actually help Israel twist the meaning of President Biden's own red line, really undermining not just American credibility, but a lot of hope among Palestinians to a degree, among government officials at the State Department and beyond, who had felt finally Biden's policy might change and truly restrain Israel.

4:40Noel King:Let's go back to October 7th and the beginning of this conflict. Your book is very critical of the Biden administration. And you suggest or posit that Joe Biden's personal feelings about Israel guided his policy after 10-7. What did, what does Joe Biden think about Israel? Joe Biden is a professed Zionist. Are you a Zionist? Yes. You'll be able to make a lot out of it because people don't know who a Zionist is. He said that were there not an Israel, America would have had to create one. Were there not an Israel, the United States of America would have to invent an Israel to protect her interest in the region.

5:21So there's an emotional attachment there and a strategic attachment. He sees Israel as a U.S. ally in the Middle East and as beneficial, right, for American interests there and for kind of broader questions of stability.

5:35Noel King:Was President Biden much different than past U.S. presidents in his approach to Israel? That's what's staggering. Of course, presidents going back to Truman, the first president to recognize the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. The United States recognizes the provisional government as the de facto authority of the new state of Israel. have largely been supportive of Israel as an American ally and certainly going back to the 70s have increased America's entanglement with Israel as a military backer, as a donor of military aid. The Yom Kippur War, when I ordered a huge airlift, which Golda Meir said saved Israel.

6:18And I said, I will not let Israel go down the tube. And I knew that under the circumstances, we could not stand by and let the Soviet Union move in. What President Biden did, and that I think is really going to shape our collective future, is turn an Israeli military campaign in Gaza into an American campaign. He essentially said the Americans were both providing the weapons that made Israel's massive bombardments of hugely populated Palestinian towns and cities that made that possible. And he turned the U.S. into kind of the guarantor of the whole situation. He said, not only will we handle the weapons, we're going to handle the humanitarian aid.

6:59We're going to defend Israel on the world stage. So it's a doubling down that I was told by Israeli officials themselves and by many of Biden's own aides, they were surprised by it. They did feel it was going further than what they had seen previously.

7:19Noel King:When Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th, how did President Biden and his close advisors talk about the attack? What was distinct? The narrative from President Biden and his advisors like Secretary of State Tony Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and Middle East Coordinator Brett McGurk was really important in that theme of making this an American war. They started to talk not just about the suffering of Israeli civilians, Israeli hostages, of course, who were taken that day by Hamas-led fighters, and what's why they acknowledged as a war crime. But they started to frame it in the context, Noel, of 9-11 and America's own experience.

8:00And this was what was so dangerous. You had Biden administration officials say things like, this is the equivalent of 10 9-11s. From the folks I talked to, you know, people who've studied the region for a long time, That's a frame that's really unhelpful in that you're then missing the political picture. You're then missing the broader context of Israel-Palestine that is distinct and instead turning it into this you're with us or against us narrative and this idea that some kind of inconceivable, unimaginable evil has been unleashed and the only way to respond is with force.

8:32Noel King:Israel launched its war on Gaza immediately to retaliate for the 10-7 attack, and Israel's stated aim was to destroy Hamas. As I understand it, very early on, there were people saying Israel's actions in Gaza seemed to be tipping into something different than advertised. What was happening and who was picking up on it? What was alarming to the officials I spoke with was how Israel's language statements talking of human animals, talking of collective punishment, cutting off of food, water, aid, electricity. We are imposing a complete siege on Gaza. There will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel.

9:18Everything will be closed. We are fighting against human animals and we are acting accordingly. how that felt like it was a campaign different than we're just going to go in and retaliate for this attack. So the people who are picking up on this are diplomats. They're at the White House. They're public diplomacy experts who are saying America is being very quickly attached to these statements, which by October 11th, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres already said resembled the language of genocide. Of course, Israel denies that it's carried out of genocide. That's kind of where the US officials I talked to started to get concerned, Noel, because they felt, yes, America is going to stand with its ally in this moment of extreme trauma.

10:01And certainly more than 250 hostages were taken that day among non-American citizens. Some kind of policy response is going to happen. Does it have to be this massive infliction of pain on more than 2 million Palestinians already living in extreme conditions described as an open air prison? Or can it be restrained? So the officials I talked about, And officials kind of at the highest levels of the Biden administration very early considered, should we put restrictions on how the Israelis operate? Should we make them sign assurances about how they use American weaponry, which is standard practice, by the way, when America arms countries like Ukraine?

10:40None of that happened. Instead, the Biden administration chose a policy that effectively represented a blank check for Israel's retaliation.

10:51Noel King:Now, what in your estimation were Biden's options? What could he have done? Biden and his team now, particularly, again, Jake Sullivan, are expressing the idea of in the cold light of morning, perhaps they should have done more. They should have pressured Netanyahu more. I document in crossing the red line that over those 16 months they were in power, they were repeatedly brought options. So for instance, people inside the administration said, if the top levels wanted us to find a war crime, we could have. Instead, the narrative was to sustain a kind of gray area without a clear confirmation of alleged war crimes.

11:32should note Israel denies breaking the laws of war. But the Biden administration was never willing to say even one occurred. And in the red line section that I talk about, I think what's so important is the Biden administration experimented with using their leverage. So on April 1st of 2024, an Israeli strike hit a convoy with the World Central Kitchen Aid Group, an aid group that's extremely well-connected in D.C. Celebrity chef Jose Andres is personally known to Biden. and killed, in the strike, seven aid workers, among them Westerners. A direct hit on the group's armored vehicle, incinerating everything and everyone inside.

12:16So this was not just a bad luck situation where, oops, we dropped the bomb in the wrong place. As this is unfolding, as President Biden is looking at that killing of World Central Kitchen aid workers, he, for the first time since October 7th, calls Prime Minister Netanyahu with a list of specific demands for things Israel must do. Not just, folks might have been familiar with the stories of Biden calls Netanyahu angry over the war. He called and said, you've got to do this or our policy is going to shift. And Netanyahu began to do those things. That shows Biden sort of actually applying the pressure that many in his camp had wanted him to, getting those results.

13:01And then, as I'm told by several very senior officials, it all fell apart.

13:10That's where I think we can take lessons from the Biden era of essentially, as one official put it to me, that the relationship with Israel can work like America's relationship with any other country if policymakers are willing to say we prioritize reducing civilian casualties or we prioritize moving towards peace and stability. The Biden administration said that, but when they had the tools they could have used to do that, they consistently refused to apply them.

13:47Noel King:The book is Crossing the Red Line, and that was the author Akbar Shahid Ahmed. In 2024, Biden canceled a shipment of 2 ,000-pound bombs to Israel just before the Rafa offensive. Now Trump wants to send more of those very same bombs to Israel and your tax dollars are going to pay for them. That's when we return.

14:21Support for the show comes from Whatnot. Live streaming can make for great entertainment. It's got proximity, spontaneity, and community building in real time. It's exploded in popularity in the recent years, and there's a growing niche for business owners to sell online in a unique and engaging way. If that's what you're looking for, check out Whatnot. Whatnot is the largest dedicated live shopping platform, whether it's beauty, collectibles, electronics, luxury fashion, even cookies. Sellers are building real, thriving businesses. Anyone can sell, whether your business is big, small, or yet to exist.

14:55A big part of the appeal is that you're not just listing products, you're building real connections with buyers. I tried Whatnot myself as a buyer, and a really fun experience bidding on different vintage pieces and even winning an auction to get a great jacket in the mail for fall. As a seller, this doesn't need to be a side hustle. On Whatnot, you can stay consistent and set out on a path to build something that lasts. Search Whatnot, spelled W-H-A-T-N-O-T, in the App Store. Download and you can start selling right away.

15:31Noel King:Support for TakeSplain comes from Grow Therapy. Your mental health is as important as your bodily health and it deserves real support. That's what Grow Therapy is for. Grow connects you with thousands of high-quality licensed therapists across these United States, offering both virtual and in-person sessions. Nights and weekends, you can search by what matters, like insurance, specialty, identity, availability. Get started in as little as two days. Grow takes more than 125 insurance plans. Some people pay as little as$0 a session. Can't get lower than that. And there are no subscriptions ever.

16:01Noel King:If there's something in your life you'd like to change, Grow Therapy can help you start. There are no subscriptions. There are no long-term commitments. You just pay per session. Grow helps you find therapy on your time. The therapist you want might take your insurance on Grow. Grow accepts over 125 insurance plans. Sessions average$21 with insurance, and some pay as little as$0, depending on their plan. Visit growtherapy.com slash explained to get started. That's growtherapy.com slash explained. growtherapy.com slash explained. Availability and coverage vary by state and by insurance plan.

16:36Support for the show comes from Banta. With AI adoption growing, so are your company's security risks and requirements. New frameworks, audits, and vendors keep piling on. Get off of me! But if your team isn't getting any bigger, you can start to feel the strain. So then you might turn to compliance tools that promise automation. But for a lot of those tools, you can end up stuck doing a lot of the work by hand. Anyway, Vanta works differently. Vanta has an agentic trust platform that is built to scale with you, not to slow you down. With over 1 ,400 automated tests across 400 plus integrations, Vanta collects evidence and monitors your controls year round.

17:31Learn more at Vanta.com slash explained, especially if you don't know what I'm talking about. Go to V-A-N-T-A dot com slash explained.

17:47This is Today Explained. I'm Alex Ward. I'm a national security reporter at The Wall Street Journal.

17:53Noel King:President Trump is trying to get congressional approval for an arms deal with Israel. What's in this package? It's a big package full of weapons. The headline bit of it, of course, is the 2 ,000 pound bomb sale. The Times says, quote, the proposed sale would include 40 ,000 one ton bombs was used by Israel and Gaza and Lebanon has drawn international anger. The proposed$2.8 billion sale of heavy bombs could be the largest of its kind in years. And the reason it's standing out is not only just the size of the weapon, but also the fact that the Biden administration restricted that sale during the Gaza war as a political signal.

18:32They made it clear that if they go into Rafa, they haven't gone into Rafa yet. If they go into Rafa, I'm not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafa, to deal with the cities, to deal with that problem. To basically go, hey, we know you guys are flattening Gaza. Please be more strategic and more targeted and use a scalpel and not a hammer. That was sort of the one big public rebuke of the way Israel was prosecuting that war. So the fact that Trump is doing this is a sign that there's been a change.

19:06Noel King:The United States has sold weapons to Israel for a long time now. How does this package that Trump wants compare to previous arms sales to Israel? American presidents, Republican, Democrat, have been selling arms to Israel for years. There was a standing, I believe,$3 billion sale of weapons per year to Israel. And it's sort of a pro forma thing. Like the U.S. gives the sale. It goes to Israel. It's what happens. It has become the weapon sales in and of themselves sort of a test of, well, how into the U.S.-Israel relationship are you? You'll recall that former President Barack Obama was dinged a lot by his critics for seemingly not being pro-Israel enough, in large part because he was seeking an Iran nuclear deal.

19:55Israel didn't like that. And so there were questions about, well, does America under Obama really care about Israel? Look, Kirsten, this is really not even in dispute. You've never had a worse relationship with Israel. So what does he do? He approves the largest ever at the time, Israel weapons sale. Handing over a multi-billion dollar gift card for the Pentagon's military arsenal. The bond between the United States and Israel is unbreaking. That was their way of telling the world, or at least going after critics saying, look, you can't deny America's commitment to Israel. Look at all these weapons we've just sold them.

20:29So there are many aspects of the U.S.-Israel relationship, but the weapon sales have been either a flashpoint or a moment of like steady, concrete connection between the two countries.

20:39Noel King:This Trump package has been reported as a$2.8 billion sale. Does that mean that Israel goes into its coffers and gives$2.8 billion to, like, American weapons manufacturers? How does the money actually change hands? What happens? Well, it depends. And we can get really nerdy with it if you want. Sure. The American weapons contracting process is a Byzantine network of nonsense. But there are two broad ways in which the U.S. sells weapons. One is called foreign military sales. It's like what it sounds like. A country wants to buy certain weapons from an American company. Those weapons are tied up in a legal restriction because they're so powerful in advance that requires American approval.

21:26And so that's why you think of the U.S. selling the weapons, because the U.S. goes, okay. But it's really buying from companies, mostly. On some occasions, government coffers, but let's simplify and say companies. So in that case, you know, country goes, I want to buy your stuff. Great, hand over the money that those weapons go. That's the easiest way. And then there's a really wacky system called foreign military financing, FMF. and that is the U.S. gives money to a foreign country for them to then buy American weapons. And you may be wondering, well, why would the U.S. give taxpayer dollars to another country to buy our stuff?

22:04Noel King:I am wondering that. Yeah. Okay. It's a fair question. So a couple of reasons. One is certain countries may not have the money that they need at the time to pay for things, but the U.S. wants to maintain that relationship. Weapon sales are a way to show connection and alliance and partnership between countries. And so even if that country can't make it happen, OK, here's some money. You'll get us back at some point. The other bit is to help American companies stay competitive. And so when we have that moment where we hear people saying, I don't want my taxpayer dollars going to pay for bombs that go to Israel, that is actually what is happening.

22:46Yeah.