Senate Democrats Worry About Biden Military Sale to Israel

A small group of Senate Democrats is calling on the Biden administration to withhold a military sale to Israel so it can be leveraged to influence the conduct of the war in the Gaza Strip and Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians.

The sale includes about 50 F-15 fighter jets, air-to-air missiles and Joint Direct Attack Munitions kits that turn unguided explosives into precision bombs. A decision this week by top Democrats on Congress’ foreign relations committees allowed the Biden administration to move forward with the sale.

“I continue to believe that the Biden administration should halt the transfer of offensive weapons until the Netanyahu administration meets the Biden administration’s objectives in several areas,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) told The Hill.

Van Hollen is at the forefront of more than a dozen Senate Democrats, moderates and progressives who sought to pressure President Biden to take a tougher stance on Israel regarding its war conduct in Gaza and policies in the West Bank, and to halt offensive US arms deliveries as leverage to bring about change.

Members of this group have also not fully committed to attending a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expected to take place in Congress on July 24, highlighting tense divisions within the Democratic Party over US relations with Israel.

“I think it was a mistake to invite him. I will make a decision later,” Van Hollen said.

In February, a group of 19 senators, with Van Hollen at the helm, got Biden to issue National Security Memorandum 20, an executive order that served to scrutinize Israel’s conduct of war in Gaza and raised the possibility of prohibiting the delivery of arms if it were determined that Israel violated international humanitarian law.

The administration said in May that Israel “likely” used U.S. weapons in violations of international law in its military operations in Gaza, but avoided imposing an arms embargo.

“I don’t think the administration made the right decision in its interpretation of the National Security Memorandum,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on the Middle East, told The Hill on Tuesday -fair. .

“I don’t think there is evidence to suggest that Israel complied with that memorandum. My belief is that the administration should use all the influence it has, including arms sales, to put an end to this conflict.”

Murphy also did not commit to attending Netanyahu’s speech in July.

The Biden administration is expected to deliver formal notification to Congress regarding the military sale to Israel. If the sale is approved and finalized by the Israeli Defense Ministry, deliveries – at least of the F-15s – will likely begin in mid-2029, according to sources familiar with the sale.

Approximately three to four aircraft would be delivered each year over the next 10 to 12 years.

But Democratic senators critical of Israel’s war conduct said the Biden administration still has time to use this military sales package as leverage to influence the immediate situation on the ground.

“Ultimately, this is a decision for the Biden administration. … I would just urge you to suspend this request until the Netanyahu government meets the goals that President Biden himself has outlined,” Van Hollen said.

This includes Israel facilitating increased humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza, refraining from carrying out a large-scale military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, cracking down on illegal Israeli settlement outposts in the West Bank and liberating Palestinian tax revenue collected for the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah.

“So it seems to me, once again, when it comes to offensive weapons — not Iron Dome, not air defense — that the administration should get very clear assurances that these issues that the president described will be addressed,” he continued. Van Hollen.

Eric Harris, spokesman for Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), said any questionIt is or worryIt is The president’s views on the military sale to Israel “were addressed through our ongoing consultations with the administration, which is why he felt it was appropriate to allow this case to move forward.”

As chairman of the committee, Cardin has the power to block U.S. military sales. The Washington Post reported Monday that Cardin, and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), had both released their possessions for sale.

Cardin called on Israel to do more to increase humanitarian aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip, but put his advocacy behind the Biden administration’s push for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

The proposed ceasefire, which is still under negotiations, would require Hamas to release approximately 120 Israeli hostages abducted during its October 7 terrorist attack. the entire population of 2 million Palestinians who suffer during the war that has lasted more than eight months.

“I applaud the efforts of President Biden and Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken for his efforts to help negotiate a ceasefire and the release of hostages, which would allow greater access to humanitarian assistance and a path to peace between Palestinians and Israelis,” Cardin said during a roundtable with reporters last week .

“And let me put this in perspective. As the president said, and as Secretary Blinken said, it is Hamas that is preventing this from moving forward.”

Proponents of the military sale to Israel say it is important in context that it addresses the larger Israeli and American security interests in the region, and say it also serves as an important signal of pressure on Hamas to agree to a ceasefire. , demonstrating that US and Israeli solidarity.

“Closing daylight between the US and Israel, continuing to show full support for Israel’s security, puts more pressure on [Hamas military chief in Gaza] Yahya Sinwar, which is where the pressure is needed,” said Jonathan Lord, former professional fellow on the House Armed Services Committee and currently senior fellow and director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security.

But not all Democrats in the Senate want to absolve Netanyahu of responsibility for the toll of destruction in the Gaza Strip.

Health authorities in Gaza, under Hamas control, claim around 37,000 victims of Israel’s war against Hamas – but do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel claims to have eliminated between 15,000 and 17,000 Hamas fighters.

“Benjamin Netanyahu created a humanitarian disaster. The United States needs to use his influence, including restrictions on weapons sales, as a way to advance a push toward peace in the Middle East,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told The Hill.

“We need a ceasefire, massive humanitarian aid, the return of the hostages, and we must achieve progress to bring the parties to the negotiating table. Giving Israel more weapons is not moving in the right direction,” Warren continued, confirming that he would not attend Netanyahu’s speech.

Similarly, Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), who supported the creation of National Security Memorandum 20, called on Biden to withhold the military sale.

Schatz also did not commit to attending Netanyahu’s speech when approached by The Hill on Tuesday.

“I don’t think we should approve the sale; I don’t think keeping the supply line hot is a good enough reason to do this,” Schatz told The Hill.

“These things are designed as a matter of statutory law to be leverage for foreign policy, and we should use our influence here to get the result we want.”

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story