A growing number of congressional Democrats are discussing ways to condition U.S. aid to Israel on Israel's humanitarian policies in Gaza.
It would be an unprecedented congressional action to require a certain kind of behavior from another nation's military in order for aid to be forthcoming. In Israel's case, a nation fighting for its existence, it's equivalent to giving the United States a veto over IDF offensive operations in Gaza.
One of the Democrats' usual anti-Israel suspects is Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. He said on Saturday that desperately needed military aid to Israel should be conditioned on a “fundamental change in their military and political positions.”
The "conditions" include “an end to the indiscriminate bombing which has taken thousands of civilian lives and a significant pause in military operations,” allowing Gazans to return to their homes, and forbidding the “long-term Israeli re-occupation or blockade of Gaza.”
Sanders would also require an end to "settler violence" in the West Bank, and “a freeze on settlement expansion." He's also demanding a commitment to peace talks.
I'm sure Bernie will let us know if there's anything else
.“While Israel has the right to go after Hamas, Netanyahu’s right-wing extremist government does not have the right to wage almost total warfare against the Palestinian people,” Sanders said, referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Would it be OK if it were a "left-wing extremist government" going after" Hamas? Netanyahu's politics are completely beside the point, but Sanders had to include the left-wing dog whistle of "right-wing extremist" to curry favor with the radicals.
Israel has a right to defend itself. If the enemy trying to destroy it uses civilians as human shields, there is absolutely no other way for Israel to "go after" Hamas. The death of civilians is on the head of Hamas, full stop.
According to Politico (Democrats in Senate, House discuss conditioning military aid to Israel), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) hosted a lunch on Wednesday for Senate Democrats where Shibley Telhami, the Anwar Sadat professor for peace and development at the University of Maryland, shared with them his take on the war in Gaza. Tom Friedman and Dennis Ross were in the meeting as well.
On Sunday morning, Sanders tweeted: “The Netanyahu government, or hopefully a new Israeli government, must understand that not one penny will be coming to Israel from the US unless there is a fundamental change in their military and political positions.”
“Israel has a moral responsibility to ensure that civilians are protected at all costs, even in the midst of war,” Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) wrote. The congresswoman became the first Jewish representative to call for a ceasefire. “Even with Hamas operations intentionally embedded among civilians, Israel cannot bomb targets in densely populated areas. The United States must demand it.”
So it's the "Marquess of Queensberry rules" of war. Israel is already announcing where they're about to bomb if there's a chance civilians may be hit. Perhaps Balint and Sanders would like the IDF to send engraved invitations to civilians to escape the fire zone.
It's unclear how many Democrats are in at least some agreement with Sanders. But calls from Democrats for a ceasefire are growing as the Democrats' natural proclivity to side with the "oppressed" people of Gaza overrides common sense.
Not all Democrats agree with Sanders.
“Conditioning aid to Israel will only have one outcome: it would help Hamas in their goal of completely annihilating Israel and the Jewish people. It would weaken America’s national security and our fight against terror,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) said in a statement on Saturday. “Any legislation that conditions security aid to our key democratic ally, Israel, is a nonstarter and will lose scores of votes.”
How far have the Democrats fallen? In 1948, it was Democratic support that allowed the United States to help give birth to the state of Israel. Many older Democrats still support the Jewish state but younger party activists are more sympathetic to the Palestinians. Whether it's the attraction to an "oppressed minority" or just hate for anything the United States supports is unclear. What's plain is that Democrats have a generational problem and Israel should be forewarned.
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