Calls to suspend military aid to Israel gather strength among US Democrats

Something is changing in U.S. policy toward Israel. The Democratic majority’s strong support for the war in Gaza is crumbling, and more and more voices are calling for a suspension of military aid to Washington’s ally, a trend that has become more pronounced since the deaths of seven aid workers from the NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK) last Monday in an Israeli strike. Now, the highly respected former speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, and dozens of members of Congress have sent a letter to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging them to take such a step, something that would have been unthinkable at the outset of the conflict.

The fact that Pelosi added her signature to the petition shows that opposition to arms shipments is no longer the exclusive position of the most progressive wing and is beginning to spread among a party that has always underlined its close alignment to Israel. Amid growing unease over the high number of Palestinian civilian casualties in the Israeli offensive — now over 33,000 according to the Gazan Health Ministry — and the specter of famine in the Strip, the attack on the aid workers seems to have been the final straw.

“In light of the recent strike against aid workers and the ever-worsening humanitarian crisis, we believe it is unjustifiable to approve these weapons transfers,” the letter states. In addition to Pelosi, the text is signed by 39 other Democratic members of Congress, including Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Barbara Lee, and Rashida Tlaib, the only lawmaker of Palestinian origin in the U.S. Congress.

The United States provides some $3.8 billion in military assistance to its major ally in the Middle East every year. On the same day as the bombing of the WCK aid workers, the White House gave the go-ahead for a new shipment of weapons to Israel, including more than 2,000 bombs of varying tonnage and 25 F-35 fighter-bombers, according to The Washington Post. The Biden administration is also considering another $18 billion arms transfer which, according to U.S. media, could include F-15 fighters.

The missive calls for a U.S. investigation into the attack on the World Central Kitchen convoy. An Israeli military internal inquiry highlighted a “grave mistake” in the misidentification of the vehicles, which were believed to contain Hamas operatives, but did not clarify why the troops “did not identify” them as belonging to the NGO as they bore its logo on their roofs and had previously informed Israeli forces of their planned route. Nor does it explain why the attack continued when it was clear that the survivors who were trying to protect themselves by changing vehicles were unarmed.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu has stated that this was a “tragic case of our forces unintentionally hitting innocent people.” If this is true, it is a shockingly unacceptable mistake. We strongly urge your administration to conduct a thorough investigation into this airstrike to determine how the aid convoy could have been mistakenly targeted despite coordinating their movements with the Israeli military and traveling in clearly marked vehicles,” the letter’s signatories state.

The letter is the latest — but not the only — call by Democratic lawmakers to stop military aid to Israel or, at the very least, impose conditions. Senator Chris Coons, who is very close to Biden and one of Israel’s biggest supporters in the U.S. Congress, said in statements to CNN that the point had been “reached” to impose conditions on military aid from the United States to Israel. In addition, last month, the leader of the Democratic majority in the Senate, Charles Schumer, an avowed supporter of Israel and Jewish himself, called for elections to replace Netanyahu.

The White House had maintained, until now, that military aid remains a matter not up for discussion. But the bombing of the aid workers has shocked the presidential office, where what National Security Council spokesman John Kirby described as “weeks and months of frustration” over Israeli methods in Gaza were already piling up. Last week, for the first time, Biden openly warned Netanyahu in a telephone conversation of changes in U.S. support if Israel does not take steps to expand humanitarian aid, reduce civilian casualties, and agree to an immediate ceasefire, although it is unclear whether those changes would affect the transfer of weaponry.

Israel responded by announcing the opening of two new corridors, through the port of Ashdod and the Erez crossing into northern Gaza, where the need for humanitarian aid is most acute. “I asked them to do what they are doing,” Biden, an avowed supporter of Israel, told reporters. Is he going to abandon Israel, a reporter asked him. “Is that a serious question?” the president replied.

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