Sen. Ben Cardin argued against withholding military aid from Israel during a Friday appearance on WYPR’s Midday. The senior senator from Maryland, who serves as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, said cutting off the supply of American weapons to the country would be “counterproductive” in efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza.
Ensuring Israel has the weapons it needs to defend itself is in the United State’s national security interest, Cardin told Midday’s Tom Hall.
“The mechanism of whether we should be supplying armaments to Israel to defend itself, to me, is not related to the current conflict in Gaza or in Lebanon,” Cardin said. “Does that provide leverage for us to get Israel to do certain things that we think they should do differently? I would suggest it does not.”
He said Israel would “bristle” at that perceived threat from the United States.
“We're trying to get a ceasefire, we want to get the hostages released, we want to get the humanitarian assistance into Gaza, and we want a pathway for peace between two states living side by side in peace, the Palestinian state and the state of Israel,” he said. “That's our objective, so we are looking for that pathway to get there.”
A Hamas official told the Associated Press on Thursday that ceasefire talks have resumed after a weeks-long hiatus.
Midday’s wide ranging interview with Cardin also discussed funding to rebuild the Key Bridge and public distrust in government.
Cardin retires from the Senate next month.
