Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) says President Joe Biden “has failed to comply with U.S. law by continuing to send U.S. military aid to Israel.” McGovern cites Section 620I of the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act, which he says is “very clear,” stating “no assistance shall be furnished under this act or the Arms Export Control Act to any country when it is made known to the President that the government of such country prohibits or directly restricts the transport and delivery of United States humanitarian assistance.”
McGovern says that this prohibition is exactly what is happening in Gaza, where the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “made a deliberate choice to use food, water and medicine as weapons against the people.” Netanyahu, McGovern says, has restricted aid to “suffering, starving civilians in Gaza. This is a violation of U.S. law.”
McGovern urges Biden to use the withholding of U.S. weapons as “leverage” against Netanyahu’s government to bring about and end to the humanitarian crisis.
Israeli PM Netanyahu has deliberately used food, water & medicine as weapons against the people of Gaza— violating Section 620I of the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act.
We need to use our leverage now, @POTUS. No more U.S. military aid to Israel in contradiction of our own laws. pic.twitter.com/fJmPGHKVt3
— Rep. Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) March 13, 2024
McGovern joins a chorus of Democratic voices, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), in excoriating the conduct of the war by Netanyahu, whose response to the execrable 10/7 attacks by Hamas in Israel has resulted in a humanitarian tragedy in Gaza — and paradoxically turned global sympathy for Israel after the attacks into widespread enmity toward Israel for its reaction. Schumer has called for new elections in Israel to replace Netanyahu.
[NOTE: Biden himself warned Israel early on and again recently about making overreach mistakes in its retribution strategy. The President has reportedly lost patience with Netanyahu over his conduct of the response.]