NEW YORK – The US should pause delivery of offensive weapons to Israel until Netanyahu’s government meets the requirements of US law and policy with respect to humanitarian assistance delivery, Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen from Maryland wrote in a letter to the Senate on Monday.
Van Hollen’s letter to his colleagues comes days before the Senate is set to vote on Wednesday on several joint resolutions blocking certain offensive weapons sales to Israel, brought forward by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
Van Hollen stated he does not support a total arms embargo against Israel.
“At the same time, US taxpayer-funded assistance should not come in the form of a blank check – even to our closest allies,” Van Hollen wrote.
“We need assurances that US interests, values, and priorities will be respected by foreign governments that receive American assistance.”
Van Hollen said that Netanyahu has been rewarded after repeatedly violating the terms of American security assistance, disregarding US priorities, and ignoring US requests.
Last week, the State Department determined it would not limit military aid to Israel after the IDF demonstrated taking steps to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, The Jerusalem Post reported.
The State Department’s decision came as the 30-day deadline, whereby Israel had to meet certain requirements in Gaza to avoid triggering the limiting of military aid, passed.
Washington warned Israel last month that military aid could be limited until progress was made. It did so based on Memorandum 20, which links such aid to humanitarian action.
According to Van Hollen, the Netanyahu government has failed to meet requirements outlined in the October letter from Biden and Secretaries Blinken and Austin, while Biden has failed to enforce US law and policy.
Van Hollen also accused the Biden administration of ignoring the law and its own standards regarding the use of American-supplied weapons.
Netanyahu has repeatedly obstructed Biden’s plan for a ceasefire and return of the hostages while undermining the White House’s “day after” plans, the Senator added.
“I continue to support the transfer of defensive systems, like the Iron Dome, and do not support an arms embargo,” Van Hollen concluded.
“But the United States should pause the transfer of offensive weapons to the Netanyahu government until it demonstrates a greater willingness to respect the values and the national security interests of the United States.”
Jeremy Ben-Ami
Jeremy Ben-Ami, CEO of the progressive group J Street, described the joint resolutions of disapproval as symbolic, given the weapons sales are “a done deal.”
“But symbolism has meaning,” Ben-Ami wrote in a post on his Substack.
“Senators who vote yes can send the important message that even strong friends of Israel disapprove of the way Prime Minister Netanyahu has conducted the Gaza war or his far-right coalition’s disrespect for the Biden administration and of the US administration’s failure to use its leverage to change Netanyahu’s policies and actions.”
According to Ben-Ami, there are “multiple reasons” why Senators should vote for at least one resolution on disapproval, including demonstrating “concern as friends” about where Israel is headed if the war isn’t stopped now. Another, Ben-Ami said, is America’s “own role in this tragedy.”
“The US is not an uninvolved observer. It has supplied so many of the weapons that made this devastation possible,” he wrote.
Ben-Ami concluded that “history will not be kind to those who step back when the moment demands a powerful statement of disapproval of how this war has been conducted.”
Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.