The political jockeying reflects how the Biden administration’s foreign policy has become a central point of contention in the presidential campaign.
“We used to say that politics stop at the water’s edge and,especially when it came to Israel,there was a fairly unified front,” said Brett Bruen,who served on the National Security Council during the Obama administration. “Certain politicians are trying to score political points from what is just a horrible tragedy.”
During a campaign rally in Waterloo,Iowa,Trump condemned the “Hamas terrorist invasion” and encouraged Israel to respond “very powerfully”.
He alleged,without evidence,that a deal the Biden administration reached with Iran freeing up $US6 billion ($9.4 billion) in oil funds was to blame for Hamas’ increased aggression.
“I would not be at all surprised if part of that tremendous wealth that they just accumulated went into,all of a sudden,watching this level of aggression,” said Trump,who has boasted of a particularly close relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “They didn’t have that level of aggression with me.”
Trump appeared to be reflecting the allegation that a deal the Biden administration reached with Iran last month – involving a prisoner swap and the freeing up of about $US6 billion in frozen Iranian oil funds – helped fund Saturday’s surprise attack by Hamas. The funds involved in the deal,which included the release of five American citizens detained in Iran,were not US taxpayer dollars but Iranian money that had been frozen under US penalties. Other GOP presidential candidates,including former vice president Mike Pence,Florida Governor Ron DeSantis,Senator Tim Scott and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie,have echoed the allegation.