Cruz and White House exchange criticism over Biden administration’s response to Israel

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and the White House traded barbs this week over the Biden administration’s response to Hamas attacks in Israel.

It all started after Cruz said in an interview with Fox News that the Biden administration had been sympathetic to calls for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Former US State Department Middle East negotiator Aaron David Miller told FactCheck.org that Cruz was “wrong” to make the claims and that the administration had “nothing but full support” for Israel.

In a lengthy post Tuesday on

BIDEN ADMINISTRATOR REACTS TO TEMPORARY CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HAMAS AND RELEASE OF HOSTAGES

“But, in order to defend Biden, they still cite ‘experts’ who say he has 100% supported Israel,” he wrote.

“Washington DC experts say Biden has 100% supported Israel. These are the people who have been in charge of Middle East diplomacy for decades, which also explains how we got to a place where Iranian terrorists were able to launch the worst attack. mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust,” the post continued.

In a statement to Fox News Digital in response to Cruz’s post, White House spokesman Andrew Bates said, “Obviously, Senator Cruz has not asked anyone in Israel about this,” and referenced a link to a New York Times article, “Israeli Billboards.” “Be grateful that the United States has a new face: Biden’s.”

The Times article said Biden is “suddenly finding warm embraces” in Israel after former President Donald Trump’s policies “driven a wedge between the Democratic Party and the Jews who have long called it their political home.”

“The Hamas attacks – and the Biden administration’s response – have so far not only united a fractured Israeli society but have also buried animosities between the world’s two largest Jewish communities, in Israel and the United States,” the report continues. article.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks to reporters on Nov. 15, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The article did not mention the Biden administration’s initial responses on social media to the Oct. 7 attacks condemned by conservatives, including Cruz.

Cruz’s comments referenced an Oct. 7 post on deleted.

On October 8, the day Secretary of State Antony Blinken had a phone call with the Turkish Foreign Minister, Blinken posted on X, urging “Türkiye’s defense of a ceasefire and immediate release of all the hostages held by Hamas.

That post was also deleted, according to the website FactCheck.org.

ISRAEL AND HAMAS AGREE TO A TEMPORARY CEASEFIRE AND RELEASE OF HOSTAGES, INCLUDING THE RELEASE OF 3 AMERICANS

“Even that is a lie,” Cruz continued on also”.

However, the Biden administration has since publicly rejected a ceasefire. On October 10, FactCheck.org reported that Biden said in a speech: “So, right now, we need to be very clear,” he said. “We stand with Israel. We stand with Israel. And we will make sure that Israel has what it needs to take care of its citizens, defend itself and respond to this attack.”

Cars are on fire after being hit by rockets from the Gaza Strip in Ashkelon, Israel, on October 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

But earlier this month, State Department staff wrote a scathing internal memo urging the Biden administration to change its public stance toward Israel and support a ceasefire, Politico reported.

The leaked memo was sent to the department’s Dissent Channel, where employees are invited to express disagreements over policies, the outlet said. It is the latest incident that shows internal conflicts within the department over the United States’ support for its closest ally in the Middle East.

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The message reportedly demands that the United States support a ceasefire and be willing to publicly criticize “Israeli military tactics and treatment of Palestinians,” the outlet reported.

Cruz said in an interview with Fox News that the Biden administration has been sympathetic to calls for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas terrorists. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

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Politico reported that two mid-level employees wrote this particular memo, but there were several other dissenting memos about the war between Israel and Hamas that were shared within the department. The message “reflects the sentiments of many American diplomats,” according to the report.

A State Department spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital that the department “does not comment on internal department communications reports,” as a general rule.

Fox News Digital has reached out to FactCheck.org for comment.

Fox News’ Kristine Parks contributed to this report.