“This is Hiroshima and Nagasaki on steroids”: Lindsey Graham rails against U.S. pausing shipments of bombs to Israel.

Sen. Lindsey Graham on Wednesday questioned senior defense leadership about the United States pausing the shipment of thousands of bombs to Israel — and he appeared to make a comparison to World War II while doing so.

“Would you have supported dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki ... to end World War II? … Do you think that was disproportionate?” the Republican from South Carolina asked Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair General Charles Q. Brown Jr. and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing about the fiscal year 2025 budget request.

“Well, I'll tell you: it stopped the World War,” Brown said.

“I agree with chairman here,” Austin said. “I think the leadership was interested in curtailing —”

“Well, what's Israel interested in?” Graham said, before he brought up Israel facing several threats in the region.

“Israel's been hit in the last few weeks by Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas, dedicated to their destruction. And you're telling me you're going to tell them how to fight the war, and what they can and can't use when everybody around them wants to kill all the Jews?” Graham said, a reference to the pause on arms transfers. “And you're telling me that if we withhold weapons in this fight — the existential fight for the life of the Jewish state — it won't send the wrong signal?”

“If we stop weapons necessary to destroy the enemies of the state of Israel at a time of great peril, we will pay a price. This is obscene. It is absurd,” Graham continued. “Give Israel what they need to fight the war they can’t afford to lose. This is Hiroshima and Nagasaki on steroids.”

The U.S. confirmed Tuesday that it paused the shipment of thousands of weapons to Israel last week, including 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs, amid concerns about an expanding Israeli military operation in the Gazan city of Rafah that experts warn could lead to a dramatically higher civilian death toll. A U.S. official reportedly said the Biden administration is concerned about how Israel would use the larger bombs in a dense urban setting. It’s the first confirmed time the United States has paused sending arms since Israel’s invasion of Gaza following Hamas’ October 7th terrorist attacks. The U.S. is reportedly also reviewing other planned transfers.

It’s not clear whether these shipments would resume down the line. The U.S. has provided Israel with tens of thousands of bombs and missiles since the war began. Last month, Congress approved another $14 billion in military aid, which is not affected by this pause.