The White House leaked details of a call between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to placate “so-called peace activists” after Iran launched an assault on Israel, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) posited on Sunday.
Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told CNN that he favors doing “anything” that can be done to protect U.S. troops in the region from being attacked when pressed on the prospect of U.S. retaliation.
“But Israel is not asking us to launch attacks on Iran. I … have ever heard the Israelis come to us and say, ‘Will you help us or will you attack Iran or go in after Iran? They’re not asking for that. They’re not asking for it,” Rubio said.
He then addressed reporting that Biden told Netanyahu that the United States would not support a counterattack against Iran as the White House is concerned that escalating military action could have significant consequences for the region.
“I think we go from that to the other extreme, which is Joe Biden telling Netanyahu, ‘Take the win, don’t do anything.’ And then his people leaking it to the media, leaking it to the press,” Rubio said. “And what it sets up is — they know that Israel is going to respond. They know this for a fact. So why would the White House leak it?”
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He added, “There’s only one reason they leaked that, and that is that so, when Israel does respond, the White House can say, ‘We told them not to do it,’ and at least somehow, in some way appease the so-called peace activists … the so — cease-fire now people, who were out yesterday cheering the launch of hundreds of rockets and drones and missiles against Israel.”
A viral clip posted to X on Saturday showed leftist activists chanting “hands off Iran!” after Iran launched drones and missiles at Israel. The news outlet that published the video, The Free Press, reported the crowd applauded and someone did a “celebratory whistle” when the news broke.
A few minutes after news broke that Iran had launched drones and missiles heading toward Israel, a crowd of far-left activists in Chicago started chanting “hands off Iran!” pic.twitter.com/xuZZ8C0XyU
— The Free Press (@TheFP) April 13, 2024
Rubio explained that anyone who is encouraging major strikes on Israel — beyond simply demonstrating in favor of a cease-fire in Gaza where Israeli forces are fighting Iran-backed Hamas terrorists — is not a “peace activist,” as some might claim.
“These are antisemites, anti-Israel, pro-terrorist elements out there, and we need to stop calling them peace activists. They are not peace activists,” he said.
“Peace activists do not cheer massive attacks against other countries, which is what they were doing yesterday. So I guess this is part of the White House’s effort to appease them by putting this out there proactively,” Rubio added.