WASHINGTON \u2014 President Joe Biden is headed back to California to raise more campaign cash Friday and Saturday after he sent shockwaves around the globe with a potential landmark change to U.S. foreign policy.<\/p>\n
Biden sat down<\/a> with CNN anchor Erin Burnett Wednesday during a campaign stop<\/a> in battleground Wisconsin. As he did during recent official White House and campaign events, he jabbed at Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, and defended his economic record.<\/p>\n The president has joked that his staff dreads when he goes off-script or veers away from the prepared remarks on a teleprompter. And he has given fewer media interviews than his recent predecessors, including Trump.<\/p>\n But when he does, Biden often is more candid than when he is delivering remarks from behind the presidential lectern or even answering reporters\u2019 shouted questions, which usually generate four- or five-word answers than can raise even more questions about his policy stances.<\/p>\n His CNN sit-down was no exception, as Biden delivered his most blunt warning to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet. Here are three takeaways.<\/p>\n Biden told the \u201cOutfront\u201d anchor he made clear to Israeli leaders if they conduct military operations in \u201cpopulation centers\u201d inside Gaza, he would withhold U.S.-made heavy bombs.<\/p>\n Though his top aides in recent weeks have declined to answer reporters\u2019 questions about Israeli military operations inside the Palestinian enclave, he acknowledged on Wednesday that those American-manufactured bombs have been used in the Israeli Defense Forces\u2019 deadly bombardment. According to a Hamas-run health agency, almost 35,000 Palestinians have died in Israel\u2019s military response to Hamas\u2019 attack inside the Jewish state, which killed 1,400 people. Another 78,000 Palestinians have been wounded, according to the same agency.<\/p>\n \u201cI made it clear that, if they go into Rafah \u2014 they haven\u2019t gone into Rafah yet. If they go into Rafah, I\u2019m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, to deal with that problem,\u201d Biden said. He appeared to say the goal was to limit Israel\u2019s ability to go on offense, not to defend itself.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to continue to make sure Israel is secure, in terms of Iron Dome [missile defense system] and their ability to respond to attacks like [the one that] came out of the Middle East recently,\u201d he said, citing heavy bombs and artillery shells as weapons he would withhold.<\/p>\n Biden\u2019s warning, if it becomes reality, would upend 76 years of American foreign policy. U.S. presidents from both political parties have staunchly supported Israel and supplied it with military assistance. As recently as last week, Biden declared his support for Tel Aviv was \u201cironclad.\u201d<\/p>\n The United States was the first country to recognize Israel in 1948. \u201cThe 75-year partnership has been built on mutual interests and shared democratic values from its inception, with Israelis and Americans united by their commitment to democracy, economic prosperity, and regional security,\u201d a State Department fact sheet<\/a> said.<\/p>\n That partnership \u2014 and regional security \u2014 may be on the ropes.<\/p>\n Trump, who also has criticized Netanyahu, panned Biden on Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat Biden is doing with respect to Israel is disgraceful. If any Jewish person voted for Joe Biden, they should be ashamed of themselves,\u201d Trump told reporters staking out his trial in New York City. \u201cHe\u2019s totally abandoned Israel and nobody can believe it. I guess he feels good about it. Because he did it as a political decision, you have to do the right decision, not the political decision. But he did a very bad thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Thursday accused Biden of a \u201c100 percent political calculation\u201d and said he is \u201cdefying the will of Congress,\u201d which recently passed an aid package for the Jewish state.<\/p>\n John Kirby, White House national security communications adviser, on Thursday contended Israeli leaders have known \u201cfor some time now\u201d about Biden\u2019s intent to withhold such weapons if they went hard militarily into the refugee-packed Rafah area. He also disclosed that Biden\u2019s threat was based on \u201cwhat we were seeing and hearing from the Israelis\u201d in terms of their planning for a Rafah operation.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to depend on Israel\u2019s decision-making right now,\u201d Kirby said. U.S. officials intend to keep pitching \u201calternative\u201d options to \u201csmashing into Rafah\u201d with Israeli officials, he said, adding the Biden administration also intends to hold discussions with their Israeli counterparts about an \u201calternative governing structure to Hamas\u201d inside Gaza.<\/p>\n Trump continues to hold a polling advantage \u2014 nationally and in battleground states \u2014 over Biden on economic issues. Biden was defiant, and he blames the polls.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have already turned it around,\u201d he said of the economy. \u201cLook, look at the Michigan survey, where 65 percent of the American people think they\u2019re in good shape economically. They think the nation\u2019s not in good shape, but they\u2019re personally in good shape,\u201d the president said, not specifying to which survey he was referring to.<\/p>\n \u201cThe polling data has been wrong all along. \u2026 You guys do a poll at CNN. How many folks [do] you have to call to get one response? The idea that we\u2019re in a situation where things are so bad, the folks that \u2014 I mean, we have created more jobs,\u201d Biden said. \u201cWe\u2019re in a situation where people have access to good-paying jobs.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the last I saw, the combination of the inflation, the cost of inflation and all those things, that\u2019s really worrisome to people, with good reason,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n In recent media interviews, Trump has done little to quell worries among many Democrats that, should he again lose to Biden, he will refuse to accept the election results \u2014 and possibly even urge his loyalists to violence.<\/p>\n Biden said Wednesday Trump should be taken at his word.<\/p>\n \u201cThe guy is not a Democrat with a small d,\u201d Biden said. \u201cLook, you can\u2019t only love your country when you win, No. 1. How many court cases did they have, Supreme Court cases?<\/p>\n \u201cThey all said, \u2018This is a totally legitimate election,\u2019\u201d he said, referring to the nine high court justices. \u201cThis is Trump. \u2026 He may not accept the outcome of the election. I promise you he won\u2019t.<\/p>\n Burnett asked: \u201cPromise that he won\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n Biden replied: \u201cHe won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\u2018Not supplying the weapons\u2019<\/h3>\n
\u2018Wrong all along\u2019<\/h3>\n
\u2018Promise you he won\u2019t\u2019<\/h3>\n