During a recent interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) asserted that the Biden-Harris administration’s lack of support for Israel following the October 7 terrorist attack has prolonged the conflict with Hamas in Gaza, resulting in more casualties, including hostages.

Cotton criticized the administration for not providing the necessary political and diplomatic backing to Israel. He stated, “Rather than trying to put constant pressure on Israel, more pressure than we put on Iran and its terrorist networks, if Joe Biden and Kamala Harris would simply adopt a policy to let Israel win and back them to the hilt, the war on Hamas probably would have ended a long time ago.”

“Earlier this year, there was a de facto partial arms embargo on Israel, not just the 2,000-pound bombs, which they do need to hit Hamas in its deep and buried tunnels, but mortar rounds and artillery shells and small-arms ammunition. Now they even have a tractor embargo in Israel,” he continued. “So Israeli soldiers are going to be exposed to minefields that can’t be cleared because the Biden and Harris administration wants to allow them to get access to the tractors and the bulldozers they need to clear those minefields.”

He highlighted what he described as a de facto partial arms embargo on Israel earlier this year, noting restrictions on essential military supplies, including not just bombs but also mortar rounds and artillery shells. “Now they even have a tractor embargo in Israel,” he added, warning that this leaves Israeli soldiers vulnerable in minefields.

Cotton claimed that the administration’s policies have not only prolonged the fighting but also likely led to more hostages being killed by Hamas.

“If the Biden-Harris administration had backed Israel from the beginning, not only would this war likely have already ended with fewer civilian casualties, but we would have gotten more hostages out earlier and alive,” he said. “What Hamas is doing, though, is continually moving the goalposts on any kind of hostage exchange for duly convicted terrorists that Hamas wants back. And the Biden-Harris administration keeps allowing them to move the goalposts.”