Key House Democrats say US must end Israel’s ‘culture of impunity’

A group of prominent Democrats in the House of Representatives have urged President Joe Biden’s administration to end the “lack of US enforcement” of human rights law as the country continues its military support for Israel – suggesting that an Israeli ‘culture of impunity’ leads to bloodshed. in the Palestinian territories and in Lebanon, which Israel invaded earlier this week.

“The United States’ failure to consistently enforce our own laws … actively endangers the lives of American citizens,” Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) and four colleagues argue in a letter sent to the Pentagon this week and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have sent. shared exclusively with JS.

Israeli forces have killed several Americans in the occupied West Bank, most recently Aysenur Ezgi Eygi on September 6, they note. They also cite “credible reports” of Israeli officials subjecting detained Palestinians to torture, sexual abuse And abuseas well as Israeli forces to shoot civilians carrying white flags during their ongoing military campaign in Gaza.

Although small, the Democratic group includes heavyweights: McGovern is the top Democrat on the powerful House Rules Committee, and his co-signatories include Reps. Barbara Lee (Calif.), Mark Pocan (Wis.) and Betty McCollum (Minn.), key players in the House Appropriations Committee, which oversees government funding, as well as Representative Joaquin Castro (Texas) of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

In particular, lawmakers highlight the Leahy Act, which bans U.S. funding for foreign military forces accused of serious rights abuses.

“If functioning properly, Leahy’s Law will serve two critical purposes: it will prevent U.S. complicity in gross human rights violations, and it will deter violations by encouraging foreign governments to hold perpetrators accountable,” the letter reads. lawmakers sent Monday. “However, the Leahy Act can only serve these purposes if it is enforced.”

Washington has never cited the decades-old law to cut off aid to an Israeli military unit. Earlier this year, the Biden administration announced this through US officials had recommended several Israeli military units were disqualified from US aid, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken believed Israel had taken steps to address alleged misconduct – and thus would not blacklist the units.

Charles Blaha, a former State Department official who was deeply involved in implementing the Leahy Act, has said publicly that he believes the administration is not applying it fairly to Israel.

“Information that would undoubtedly result in exclusion for any other country [for U.S.-funded assistance] is insufficient for Israeli security forces units,” Blaha said wrote earlier this year. “Political considerations, including the possibility of criticism from a foreign government, are not relevant to decisions about the appropriateness of the Leahy Act. But in practice there are a few [U.S. officials] …include concerns about criticism from the Government of Israel as a factor in determining a unit’s ineligibility and in deciding which cases should be sent to higher levels for action.”

The new congressional letter quotes Blaha’s testimony.

State Department spokespeople deny that the US gives Israel special treatment when it comes to applying laws governing military aid. Israel says its military respects U.S. and international laws and is investigating allegations of behavior that could violate those norms.

Still, the letter notes that the US is giving Israel significant leeway in determining how to punish perpetrators. Watchdog groups say Israel’s response to illegal behavior against Palestinians by its personnel often amounts to a slap on the wrist, while the Israeli government often aggressively denies claims of wrongdoing, requiring serious pressure to even investigate them.

The US is by far Israel’s main military backer, sending the country more than $3.5 billion in military aid annually – and has sent billions more since the attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023, killing nearly 1,200 people died and some acts of violence resulted. 240 people are taken hostage, including Americans. This policy has generally bipartisan support because it strengthens an ally in the face of regional forces wary of the US, from Hamas to the Lebanese militia Hezbollah and Iran, which backs both groups.

Still, as the toll of Israel’s post-October crisis seven military operations has increased — now involving more than 41,500 Palestinians and more than 2,000 Lebanese — and more observers say the policy needs to be reconsidered. The lawmakers who signed the new letter call themselves “old friends and allies of Israel” and believe in the right to self-defense against Hamas, Hezbollah and others.

The Leahy Act does that does not include all or all forms of U.S. military assistance to Israel possible violations by foreign governments of the laws of war and American law. But stricter implementation of the law could send a strong message to the Israeli government and increase the likelihood that the US and its allies will pressure Israel more broadly to do more to prevent the commission of war crimes, advocates say. idea.

Hopes for a different approach are growing as concerns grow about Israel’s actions in Lebanon, where the country is repeating many of the tactics that devastated Gaza, issuing sweeping evacuation orders that international law experts say violate norms for the protection of civilians; attacking densely populated areas with seemingly disproportionate attacks; and notable protected groups such as medical workers.

While the Biden administration has largely refused to reconsider its weapons pipeline for Israel, it is doing so recognized in a May report that “it is reasonable to assess that [U.S.-provided] defense articles … have been used by Israeli security forces since October 7 in cases that do not correspond to its provisions [international law] obligations or with established best practices for reducing harm to citizens.”

“The failure to apply the law to Israel has led to the [Prime Minister Benjamin] The Netanyahu government sent a message of impunity and undermined the Biden administration’s goal of achieving a ceasefire,” argued John Ramming Chappell of the advocacy group Center for Civilians in Conflict, which “a continuation of the patterns from Gaza” in Lebanon with full US support

Chappell said the U.S. can hold Israel accountable by applying the Leahy Act and other legislation such as the Foreign Assistance Act, whose Section 620I prohibits U.S. military assistance to countries that prohibit the distribution of American-provided humanitarian aid. Lawmakers, current and former U.S. officials and independent analysts say that’s what the Biden administration’s policy appears to be violate that statute.

Stacy Gilbert, a veteran State Department aid official who resigned in May over Biden’s Gaza policy, previously said JS That the government is “distorting the facts” about Israel’s handling of supplies for the Palestinians.

“It is clear that the Israeli security forces are benefiting from a double standard here,” Chappell said.

Read the letter from lawmakers below: