No One Takes the Administration's Empty Warnings Seriously

It is hard not to conclude that this latest warning is a pre-election stunt that will end up changing nothing.

A Biden administration official told aid groups almost two months ago that it was never going to follow the law by suspending weapons transfers to Israel:

The top U.S. official working on the humanitarian situation in Gaza told aid groups in August that the U.S. would not consider withholding weapons from Israel for blocking food and medicine from entering the enclave — a rare admission by someone in the administration.

The explanation that the official offered is frustrating but not at all surprising. According to one of the aid group officials at the meeting, “Grande noted that Israel is one in a ‘tight circle of very few allies’ that the U.S. will not oppose, nor will it ‘hold anything back that they want.’” It is obvious that the U.S. treats certain states very differently and lets them get away with anything, but it is unusual for someone from the administration to state it so bluntly to outsiders.