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foreign assistance act
Biden and Blinken—Weapons to Israel Violate US and International Law
Will the U.S. government finally do the right thing when it comes to holding Israel to account for its clear violations of human rights standards?
May 09, 2024
As Israel continues its merciless assault on Gaza, there is at least some sanity taking hold in regard to U.S. policy on military assistance to Israel. Several weapons shipments have been put on hold by the Biden Administration and congressional leadership over concerns about Israeli conduct in its ongoing slaughter in Gaza. This is surely the result of relentless protests, organizing and advocacy by the broad, growing movement for a ceasefire.
Currently, as Israel surrounds and attacks Rafah, and ceasefire talks sputter, the U.S. government is poised to likely give Israel a clean bill of health in a report to Congress.
All that is required of Congress and the president is to do their jobs and uphold existing U.S. and international law.
The report, expected any day now, is required by National Security Memorandum - 20 (NSM-20), and is not specific to Israel. It simply states that countries receiving U.S. military assistance must follow U.S. and international law regarding the laws of war and allow humanitarian assistance to reach civilians. Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Kenya, Colombia, Ukraine and Israel are the countries addressed in the report. Israel has speciously asserted that it is in compliance.
NSM-20 was adopted by the Biden administration in a compromise with U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), supported by 18 other senators, when his and other amendments were denied a vote in the recent military supplemental appropriations process. Subsequently, 88 House members led by U.S. Reps. Jason Crow (D-Col.) and Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) wrote to the Administration expressing their support for holding Israel accountable under NSM-20 and section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act, which prohibits U.S. security assistance to any state which restricts U.S. humanitarian aid.
Reports by the executive branch to Congress are ordinarily obscure and dry, read only by committed policy wonks. This one is justifiably getting more attention, as it is a tool for accountability that merely restates existing U.S. and international law, at a time when ending the calamity in Gaza could not be more urgent. The fact that the report may be delayed (it was due May 8) reflects internal divisions within the State Department not just about Israel’s fallacious claim of compliance, but what to recommend to the executive branch in terms of possible action against Israel.
This is likely the first bite at the apple regarding the NSM-20 process, as peace advocates, and our allies in Congress, see it as a potential lever to impact U.S. policy toward Israel, hopefully to bring about an end to the war.
Congressional action is of course only one form of pressure on the Biden Administration to end military aid to Israel and press for a ceasefire. The remarkable spread of campus protests and consistent "No Preference" or "Uncommitted" Democratic presidential primary votes in state after state are powerful statements of no confidence in Biden’s bear hug of support of Israel. All that is required of Congress and the president is to do their jobs and uphold existing U.S. and international law. The question is whether they can, for once, stand up to the pro-apartheid, anti-Palestinian human rights lobby and do the right thing.
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Leaked State Department Memo: Israeli Assurances 'Neither Credible Nor Reliable'
"Today's leak should mark a final end to this impunity. President Biden has no choice but to fully enforce the law and halt aid to Israel."
Apr 28, 2024
A newly leaked internal memo shows that officials at four U.S. State Department bureaus don't believe the Israeli government's assurances that it is using American weaponry in Gaza in compliance with international law, rejecting them as "neither credible nor reliable."
The memo, first reported by Reuters on Saturday, is a joint submission from the State Department's bureaus of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor; Population, Refugees, and Migration; Global Criminal Justice; and International Organization Affairs.
The leaked document raises "serious concern over non-compliance" with international law, specifically citing the Israeli military's repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure, refusal to investigate or punish those responsible for atrocities, and killing of "humanitarian workers and journalists at an unprecedented rate," according to Reuters.
The memo also points to Israel's arbitrary rejection of humanitarian aid trucks, which has fueled famine in the Gaza Strip. The bureaus' conclusion matches that of officials at the United States Agency for International Development.
Human rights groups have been documenting Israel's atrocities and systematic obstruction of aid for months, but the Biden administration has continued approving weapons sales for the Netanyahu government despite U.S. laws prohibiting arms transfers to countries violating human rights and blocking American humanitarian assistance.
Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), said Saturday that "the State Department's leaked confirmation that Israel has restricted the transport and delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance leaves no doubt: U.S. law requires the suspension of military aid to Israel."
"For too long, the Biden administration has breached or ignored U.S. laws that require the suspension of aid to an abusive regime like Israel, fueling Israeli belligerence and rewarding its atrocities," said Whitson. "It's time for real consequences."
"Suspending military aid is the bare minimum the U.S. must do to avoid further complicity in these abuses."
In March, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant penned a letter assuring the Biden administration that the Israeli military's use of American weaponry has been in line with international law. A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department subsequently indicated that the Biden administration has not found Israel "to be in violation of international humanitarian law," drawing outrage from analysts and members of Congress who say it is obvious Israel is committing war crimes. in Gaza.
The U.S. State Department is expected to deliver its final assessment of Israel's assurances to Congress in early May.
The written assurances from Israel were required under a White House policy known as National Security Memorandum 20 (NSM-20), which has the ostensible aim of preventing "arms transfers that risk facilitating or otherwise contributing to violations of human rights or international humanitarian law."
NSM-20 states that "in furtherance of supporting Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2378-1) and applicable international law," the U.S. will "obtain credible and reliable written assurances from a representative of the recipient country as the Secretary of State deems appropriate that, in any area of armed conflict where the recipient country uses such defense articles, consistent with applicable international law, the recipient country will facilitate and not arbitrarily deny, restrict, or otherwise impede, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance and United States Government-supported international efforts to provide humanitarian assistance."
Raed Jarrar, DAWN's advocacy director, said Saturday that "Section 620I has been rendered toothless by State Department inaction and special treatment for Israel."
"Today's leak should mark a final end to this impunity. President Biden has no choice but to fully enforce the law and halt aid to Israel," said Jarrar. "From bombing residential towers to blocking food and medicine, Israel's war on Gaza has been marked by utter disregard for civilian life and international law. Suspending military aid is the bare minimum the U.S. must do to avoid further complicity in these abuses. But it's an essential first step to show that even Israel is not above the law."
Details of the internal State Department memo emerged just days after Congress gave final approval to a foreign aid package that includes $17 billion in unconditional military assistance for the Israeli government.
In a joint statement on Friday, dozens of civil society groups warned that the newly approved military aid risks deepening U.S. complicity in an assault that has killed more than 34,000 people and put millions at risk of starvation.
"Not only does this supplemental aid package provide Israel with billions in lethal arms, it also provides the country with privileges above and beyond anything it has ever received, in particular for the war reserve stockpile and offshore procurement," the groups said. "The passage of the supplemental bill further risks U.S. complicity in grave international crimes committed by Israel."
"We urge the administration and Congress to uphold U.S. law and policy and international law by withholding the transfer of additional lethal military aid to Israel," they added.
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House Dems Tell Biden to 'Enforce US Law' as Israel Obstructs Gaza Aid
"Israel’s restriction of this aid and Prime Minister Netanyahu's refusal to address U.S. concerns on this issue is absolutely unacceptable," wrote six House Democrats.
Mar 28, 2024
While United Nations experts and human rights groups around the world continue to call on U.S. President Biden to end his support for Israel as it bombards Gaza and blocks aid, six House Democrats told the president that his policy in the region is a straightforward violation of U.S. law, and must change immediately.
Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) led lawmakers including Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), and Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) in calling on Biden to "enforce U.S. law" with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu government.
With Israel continuing to block aid to Gaza—even as the International Food Security Phase Classification initiative (IPC) warns that parts of northern Gaza are already facing famine—the lawmakers said Netanyahu is "repeatedly interfering in U.S. humanitarian operations in direct violation of the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act—Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961."
The Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act states that the U.S. cannot provide military aid to any country that is prohibiting or restricting the delivery of U.S. assistance into an area.
Despite State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller's claim this week that Israel is complying with international humanitarian law "when it comes to the conduct of the war or the provision of humanitarian assistance," the International Court of Justice on Thursday ordered Israel to ensure the delivery of urgently needed aid and warned that "famine is setting in" due to Israel's actions.
"The need to deliver humanitarian aid by any means possible has never been more pressing," wrote the lawmakers on Thursday. "This fact was emphasized by your administration's decision to begin airdropping supplies into Gaza in recent weeks, and your announcement of U.S. participation in constructing a temporary port in Gaza to expand the flow of aid."
"Israel's restriction of this aid and Prime Minister Netanyahu's refusal to address U.S. concerns on this issue is absolutely unacceptable," they said.
The letter follows similar calls from U.S. senators and more than two dozen human rights groups who earlier pointed out that Biden need look no further than the Foreign Assistance Act to know that the U.S. can no longer provide Israel with military support.
"This law is very straightforward," Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) told NPR earlier this month. "It's clearly triggered by the facts on the ground in Gaza, where we now have kids who have literally died of starvation, and hundreds of thousands of people on the verge of starvation, with 4 out of the 5 hungriest people in the world today in Gaza."
McCollum and her colleagues wrote that Biden must also "reassess how our assistance is provided to Israel" if it moves forward with plans to launch a ground offensive in Rafah, "a move that would put the 1.5 million Palestinians displaced from other parts of Gaza in imminent danger and exacerbate the rate of disease, starvation, and death in the conflict."
"We echo our colleagues in the U.S. Senate in imploring you to enforce U.S. law with the Netanyahu government," wrote McCollum and her colleagues. "Mr. President, the situation in Gaza is dire. Immediate action from the United States is necessary to stop further loss of civilian life, and we urge you to use every tool at your disposal to end the suffering in this crisis and to keep this conflict from expanding."
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