Biden (right) said earlier that Washington would stand with Israel and offer its support (Reuters) While all sectors of the US are discussing the need to attach conditionalities to Israeli military aid, some experts interviewed by Al Jazeera expressed doubts about the possibility of Joe Biden *** taking such a step, despite the use of US ** and ammunition by Israeli forces in their ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip since October 7, resulting in a large number of Palestinians**.
Biden** submitted a request to Congress on October 20 for $106 billion worth of additional funding for the current fiscal year, including $14 billion in support for Israel, as well as $5.6 billion worth of other projects for logistical support, infrastructure and other assistance to improve the lives of Palestinians "displaced from Gaza to neighboring countries."
In addition, Israel receives $3.3 billion in military aid annually under a memorandum of understanding covering the period 2018 to 2028, and Washington has pledged to spend $500 million annually on the Joint Missile Defense program.
Israel is an exception that violates U.S. rules and laws regarding the provision of ** to foreign countries, especially the record of these receiving countries that respect human rights, abide by the rules of international law, and the laws of war.
The U.S. favoritism toward the Israeli occupation reflects its double standards, and the White House made it clear this week that it would not seek strings attached to Israel's military aid, although Biden said a few days ago that it should consider doing so. * Told reporters that the call for specific conditions for aid to Israel is "an idea worth considering."
Asked whether the provision of aid is being considered and reviewed and what he meant by "an idea worth considering," committee spokesman John Kirby responded that it was "an idea worth considering" and that the approach Biden has chosen to follow so far has yielded positive results, referring to a truce that lasted seven days.
Some observers believe that Biden and Kirby intended to send a message of anger to Israel to change the severity of their attack on the Gaza Strip, which resulted in at least 150,000 people died, including more than 10,000 children and women. About 7,000 people are still missing, and the number of injured is 360,000 people.
George Cafiero, an expert on American affairs and director of the Gulf States Research Association, said in an interview with Al Jazeera that given the nature of Biden and his Secretary of State Antony Blinken and others who serve this session, "I don't expect the White House to agree to change the nature of U.S. aid to Israel." Biden's team is full of Zionists who are ideologically committed to the relationship between the United States and Israel. ”
George Cafiero added that they would like to see Washington always provide strong support to Tel Aviv and that anything is possible, "but I doubt that Washington under Biden will stop aiding Israel, especially during 2024**, and Biden does not want to clash with pro-Israel lobbies like AIPAC when seeking re-election." ”
Judging by the numbers......That's the disagreement among young Americans about Biden's handling of the war in Gaza at a time when congressional Democrats are increasingly discussing conditionalities on military aid to Israel, with some linking the new poll findings to this rare move by Congress.
Young Americans, especially liberals, believe that their country is doing too much for its closest ally in the Middle East (Israel) and too little for the Palestinians.
A poll conducted by Quinnipiac University on Nov. 16 showed that 52 percent of respondents between the ages of 18 and 34 said they were more sympathetic to Palestinians, compared to 29 percent for Israelis.
This percentage has changed significantly from the results of the same poll conducted in mid-October, when, 41 percent of respondents sympathized with Israelis, while 26 percent sympathized with Palestinians.
Biden and a vast majority of members of Congress have so far expressed their full support for Israel's aggression in the Gaza Strip in the wake of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, saying that the truce — during which fighting stopped — lasted a week, giving some Democrats an opportunity to voice their concerns about how Israel is waging war.
Senator Chris Van Holen said, "We hope to receive clear assurances from Netanyahu's plan to reduce the level of unacceptable civilian levels, and we hope that Netanyahu's coalition is committed to fully cooperating with our efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza." ”
Charles Dunn, a former White House and current expert at the Middle East Institute and the Arab Institute in Washington, and a lecturer at George Washington University, said in an interview with Al Jazeera that Senator Chris van Holen's move was a "largely unprecedented" idea in support of conditionality, especially in times of crisis, which does not affect annual aid to Israel, but only applies to the proposed $14 billion in supplementary aid. ”
The expert added that even the concept of attaching conditionalities to Israeli aid could open up new ideas for Congress to think about what the United States is willing to support in the long term.
Senator Peter Welch said in a statement, "I fully support Israel's right to prosecute those who ordered and carried out the October 7 attacks." But Israel's approach must not lead to widespread destruction of the large number of civilians** and civilian infrastructure in Gaza. ”
In an interview with CNN, Welch said, "I don't want us to fund two thousand pounds of U.S. bombs that will be dropped on refugee camps and kill a lot of innocent civilians." ”
The growing controversy over Washington's demonstration to demand an end to Israel's war in the Gaza Strip is further evidence that Washington's support for Israel's war is leading to congressional Democrats**, with a growing number of House Democrats demanding that the United States push for a long-term ceasefire, and the number of Democratic lawmakers who openly support a ceasefire gradually increasing to 49. Polls show that a majority of Americans support a ceasefire in Gaza.
More than two-thirds of Americans support a ceasefire in Israel's war on Gaza, the results of a Reuters poll conducted in partnership with the Ipsos Research Center showed that the results were released last Wednesday.
The poll, which was attended by more than 1,000 people, showed that U.S. support for Israel has declined since the Al-Aqsa flood operation began last month.
The share of respondents who said "the United States should support Israel" fell from 41 percent in mid-October to 32 percent this week.
Biden** ordered $14.3 billion in additional aid to Israel last month (Anadolu News Agency) Senator Bernie Sanders, who has been criticized by progressives for not calling for a ceasefire, is one of the few Senate Democrats who explicitly support imposing more conditions on how military aid is used.
Writing in the New York Times, Sanders said, "At the moment, we are providing $3.8 billion a year, and on top of that, Biden** is asking for $14.3 billion and asking Congress to waive the already limited regular oversight rules." ”
He called for an end to Israel's "blank check practice" and said, "The United States must make it clear that while we are friends with Israel, this friendship is conditional and we cannot participate in violations of international law." ”
Other Democrats rejected the idea, and according to Democratic Representative Josh Gottheimer in a statement, "any legislation that requires security assistance to our main democratic ally (Israel) will be unsuccessful and will lose dozens of votes."
Senator Ben Cardin, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also stressed his opposition to the idea of conditionality, saying, "I don't think there's a need to put conditions on. The overall approach to negotiations with the Israelis has yielded tangible results, including the volume of humanitarian and strategic assistance to the country. ”