Biden faces internal Democratic blowback over Israel weapons pauses

President Biden is facing unusually harsh criticism from some pro-Israel lawmakers in his party for pausing shipments of weapons to Israel.

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), who said on X the move "makes a mockery of our credibility as an ally," had even more strident criticism for the president in a brief Capitol Hill interview on Wednesday.

"I suspect it's pandering to the far left," the staunchly pro-Israel lawmaker told Axios. "It looks like election year politics was driving it. That's my impression," he added."I'd like the president to do right by Israel and recognize that the far left is not representative of the rest of the country."

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) told Axios: "I strenuously disagree... We have to stand with our key ally throughout all of this."

Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) told Axios that Israel is "surrounded by danger, they need the tools to defend themselves" and the U.S. "should fulfill our obligation" by sending the weapons.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) said the move is clearly geared towards sending Israel a "message" about their use of force, but "Hamas is also getting the message... and that means the war is going to go on."