A former top Middle East adviser to President Joe Biden has revealed that the administration considered taking drastic measures against Israel after a military drone strike killed aid workers in the Gaza Strip.
What happened
In an interview, Brett McGurk recounted the administration's response to the October 7 attack and the Israel-Hamas war. He described a tense conversation between Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which Biden warned that he could end the US weapons supply to Israel. McGurk noted that the US did pause some weapons transfers to Israel but never instituted a complete halt.
McGurk also discussed the role of Iran in the conflict, stating that the US helped protect Israel from an Iranian attack that included ballistic missiles, drones, and cruise missiles. He expressed frustration with Biden administration colleagues who were wary of striking Iranian officials in response to attacks on US forces by Iranian-backed proxy groups.
The former adviser also touched on the topic of Saudi-Israeli normalization, which had been discussed between the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. However, the October 7 attack derailed those talks, and McGurk noted that Hamas may have sought to prevent normalization.
