Santa Barbara Congressmember Salud Carbajal joined with 85 other members of Congress to urge President Joe Biden to put Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on notice that future military assistance to Israel could be placed in jeopardy if Israel continues to interfere with the delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
“These restrictions on U.S.-backed humanitarian aid efforts have contributed to an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe for Palestinian civilians and to credible reports of famine in parts of Gaza, according to USAID Ambassador Samantha Power,” wrote Carbajal in the joint statement.
The letter urged President Biden to make such concerns plain to Netanyahu, who to date has all but openly dismissed them. In fact, Netanyahu has vowed to push ahead with a major ground campaign that will put more than one million Palestinians living in Northern Gaza at greater risk, whether or not a cease-fire is negotiated between Israel and Hamas.
Carbajal and the other congressmembers signing the letter made clear that future U.S. funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system should be exempt from National Security Memorandum 20, which holds that any interference with humanitarian aid — whether direct or indirect — is grounds to cut off future foreign assistance.
“We remain deeply committed to Israel’s continued security,” read the statement. “We believe that a famine in Gaza is harmful to Israel’s own security interests, both in the immediate and the long term. Allowing famine to take hold in Gaza is already severely damaging the Israeli government’s international standing and harming prospects for peace.”
Related Posts
