Doug Bandow, senior fellow at the Cato Institute think tank in Washington, DC, said President Biden is facing difficult choices between appeasing his Democratic supporters who want the war in Gaza to end, and his staunch support for Israel.

“He is dealing with very serious political problems. He has a lot of young progressives, as well as Arab-Americans, who’ve been very angry about his stand in Gaza and support for Israel,” Bandow told Al Jazeera.

“He is worried about losing those votes in November, and the campus protests have intensified that. He hoped that this crisis would go away, but these protests have actually amplified it, made it more threatening to him,” he said.

“So I believe this is an effort to show that he has heard them [the protesters], and he is willing to put pressure on Israel for the first time in a way that we have never seen before.

“I think this is very difficult for him. He has long said that he is the most pro-Israeli president ever. Early in the Gaza operation, he said that he would do nothing to interfere with Israel’s right to defend itself.

“So this a major step forward to withhold some of those munitions and bombs.

“The Israelis have to pay attention to that.”

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