“So, Biden is concerned with how Israel is using military arms that they pay for, but is giving Hamas aid with no strings attached? We all know how Hamas is using the aid.”
And note the sublime hypocrisy of these leftists. On one hand they angst over how military arms are used against terrorists in Israel... even while giving a free pass to Zelensky on how US funded arms are used in Ukraine against Russia. I haven’t heard them whine about any civilian casualties in Ukraine caused by Z (27,449 as of 2/2023). Funny how that works, eh?
https://www.ohchr.org/en/news/2023/09/ukraine-civilian-casualty-update-24-september-2023
Let’s face it. The main reason they hate Netanyahu is because they don’t and can’t control him.... and they never will.
And the same for Trump.
politico.com
Dems press Blinken on ‘highly unusual’ Israel weapons moves
Nineteen lawmakers want to know why the State Department approved two arms sales to Israel without congressional approval.
CONNOR O’BRIEN, 01/29/2024
Democratic lawmakers are seeking answers from the Biden administration over its decision to green-light a pair of recent arms sales to Israel without congressional approval.
Nineteen Democrats called the State Department’s decision to unilaterally approve two emergency sales to Israel move “highly unusual” in a letter sent to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday and obtained by POLITICO. It highlights a growing divide among Democrats, as progressives especially criticize how President Joe Biden has responded to Israel’s conduct in the Gaza war.
The lawmakers pressed for details about why the emergency sales were needed, which sidestepped the typical process that requires congressional approval, and any steps taken to mitigate civilian harm.
“It is essential for Congress to be able to conduct oversight of these arms transfers and determine whether they are consistent with humanitarian principles and U.S. law, and whether they advance or harm U.S. national security,” the lawmakers wrote, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.).
“We appreciate that your administration has repeatedly urged the Israeli government to take additional steps to reduce civilian casualties,” the group said to Blinken. “However, we are concerned that these transfers and the administration’s evasion of congressional oversight may be inconsistent with broader U.S. foreign policy goals.”
It’s not the first time the Biden administration has faced open intraparty pushback over how it has handled Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza and mounting Palestinian civilian deaths. Biden immediately faced criticism from Democrats for leaving Congress out of the loop on the two arms sales to Israel. The chairs and ranking members of the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs committees typically must sign off on foreign weapons sales.
The State Department in December used an emergency designation to approve the sale of 14,000 tank shells to Israel valued at $106 million. That same month, it used the same process to approve a sale of primers, fuzes and charges for Israel’s 155mm artillery shells previously sold by the U.S. The sale of the shells and added equipment totaled $147 million.
State Department officials have defended the move to expedite the sales, noting they have also used the mechanism to speed up weapons transfers for Ukraine, an argument that clearly didn’t sway certain members of Congress.
The Democratic lawmakers also pressed Blinken on whether the U.S. has conducted any vetting of Israel under the Leahy Law, which bars U.S. assistance to foreign militaries that commit gross human rights violations.
“Use of a national emergency waiver does not exempt the U.S. government from assessing whether arms sales are consistent with these policies,” they argued.
In addition to Warren, the letter was signed by Sens. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
Fifteen House Democrats also signed on, including Reps. Betty McCollum of Minnesota and Barbara Lee of California, the top Democrats on the House panels that control appropriations to the State Department and the Pentagon.
Oversight of arms transfers will likely be a topic of debate when senators consider a $111 billion emergency aid package for Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel. Democrats, led by Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, are pushing to reverse a proposal by the Biden administration that would allow officials to waive congressional notification requirements for some U.S. military aid to Israel.
It will be rather difficult for any govt to pressure Israel into “negotiating,”
since Israel has munitions and weaponry to destroy Hamas entirely on their own.
There’s Biden’s post-Oct7 2023 arms handout to Israel:
<><>57,000 155mm artillery shells
<><>more than 5,000 Mk82 unguided or “dumb” bombs,
<><>more than 5,400 Mk84 2,000 pound warhead bombs,
<><>around 1,000 GBU-39 small diameter bombs,
<><>approximately 3,000 JDAMs, which turn unguided bombs into guided “smart” bombs,
<><>BLU-109 bunker busters w/ 2,000 pound warheads designed to penetrate concrete shelters.
There’s Obama’s $38 billion deal that covers fiscal years 2019-2028 that includes:
<><>-annual US payments to Israel of $3.3 billion in “military financing,”
<><>-$500 million a year for Israel’s missile defense operations in the Negev, a foreign aid first,
<><>-A phasing-out of Israel’s decades-long “special arrangement”
<><>ie. Israel used 26.3% of US aid on its own global defense industry (not on US-made weapons).
<><>-Eliminates Israel using some 13% of US aid to buy military fuel.
<><>-will allow Israel to update “the lion’s share” of its fighter aircraft,
<><>includes purchasing additional F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.
<><>Israel is to initially receive thirty-three F-35 aircraft,
<><>the first two F-35’s will be delivered in December.
The (a) weaponry build-up from Obama 2018 into 2028, (b) follows the $30 billion weaponry deal Israel signed in 2007, which expires at the end of fiscal 2018, and (c) a systematic buildup of Israeli arms, like this one in 2015.
ISRAEL – JOINT DIRECT ATTACK MUNITION TAIL KITS AND MUNITIONS
Defense Security Cooperation Agency
Media/Public Contact
pm-cpa@state.gov
Transmittal No 15-36
WASHINGTON, May 19, 2015
As required by US law, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale to Israel on May 18, 2015: Joint Direct Attack Munition Tail Kits, munitions, and associated equipment, parts and logistical support for an estimated cost of $1.879 billion.
The Government of Israel has requested:
<><>14,500 KMU-556C/B Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) tail kits
<><>consisting of 10,000 for Mk-84;
<><>500 for Mk-83;
<><>and,4,000 for Mk-82;
<><>3,500 Mk-82 bombs; 4,500 Mk-83 bombs;
<><>50 BLU-113 bombs;
<><>4,100 GBU-39 Small Diameter bombs;
<><>1,500 Mk-83 Paveway kits;
<><>700 BLU-109 Paveway kits;
<><>3,000 AGM-114K/R Hellfire Missiles,
<><>250 AIM-120C Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles;
<><>and 500 DSU-38A/B Detector Laser Illuminated Target kits for JDAMs.
The proposed sale of this equipment will provide Israel
<><>the ability to support its self-defense needs
<><>enable Israel to maintain operational capability of its existing systems
<><>and will enhance Israel’s interoperability with the United States.
Israel already has these munitions in its inventory, and will have no difficulty absorbing the additional munitions into its armed forces.
All questions regarding this proposed Foreign Military Sale should be directed to the State Department’s Bureau of Political Military Affairs, Office of Congressional and Public Affairs, pm-cpa@state.gov.