Biden (right) avoids calling for a ceasefire in Gaza or placing restrictions on US military aid to Israel (French)
Washington -
More than 4 months after the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, which the administration of US President Joe Biden supported with full force, militarily, financially, intelligence-wise, diplomatically and judicially, Biden issued a national security memorandum requiring recipients of US military aid - including Israel - to issue certificates. Written that they will comply with international humanitarian law, and that they will cooperate with US humanitarian assistance efforts.
While the memorandum did not refer to Israel specifically, it is widely seen as directed against Israeli military operations in Gaza, and immediately after the memorandum was issued, the major Jewish lobby organizations in the United States attacked President Joe Biden.
In his speech at the White House, at dawn yesterday, Biden criticized the Israeli military campaign in Gaza. He said: “I believe, as you know, that the response in the Gaza Strip was exaggerated,” at a time when the Biden administration is avoiding demanding a ceasefire, or placing any conditions or restrictions on US military aid to Israel, despite pressure from some progressive lawmakers.
The issuance of the memorandum comes at a time when the White House is pressuring Congress to pass legislation providing additional military aid to Israel worth $14 billion.
The presidential memorandum issued by Biden imposes conditions on all countries that receive US military aid (Reuters)
Nature of the memorandum
The new memorandum requires the US Secretary of State to obtain “credible assurances” from countries receiving military aid that they will use the aid in accordance with international humanitarian law.
It will not “arbitrarily deny, restrict, or obstruct, directly or indirectly,” U.S.-supported humanitarian assistance efforts. The memorandum requires all countries, including Israel, to provide written guarantees within 45 days, or aid will be suspended.
If the Secretary of State or Defense later assesses that there is reason to question these assurances, they must submit a plan, within 45 days, to “assess and correct” the situation, including requesting new assurances or cutting off defense aid.
American Jews attack Biden
This memorandum sparked immediate criticism from leaders of a number of the most powerful American Jewish organizations. Sam Markstein, spokesman for the Republican Jewish Coalition, described the memo as “yet another part of the Biden administration that is unfairly pressuring Israel.” He criticized Biden's statements about the Israeli aggression against Gaza, describing them as "ridiculous."
Merton Klein, President of the Zionist Organization of America, attacked Biden's statements in which he considered that Israel's response in Gaza was exaggerated, and described them as "absolutely outrageous."
Klein stressed that “Biden’s condemnation of Israel’s just and necessary response to the US ally does not take into account the fact that Israel strictly adheres to human rights laws and is making unprecedented efforts to protect civilians and fight terrorist groups such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which vow to repeat the October 7 massacres.” October repeatedly, until Israel is annihilated.
Klein criticized Biden, and said: “We cannot forget that Biden pushed for a premature ceasefire in May 2021, before Israel could complete the task of defeating Hamas. If he had not pressured Israel to end its response to the Hamas attacks in May 2021, for what happened on October 7. It is disgusting that Biden is pressuring Israel to subject Israeli citizens to Hamas terrorism again.”
AIPAC stresses the need to provide support to Israel in its battle against Hamas and Hezbollah (Reuters)
AIPAC, the largest Israeli lobby organization in the United States, considered the arms transfer memorandum “an unnecessary directive that imposes an additional burden on Israel.” She stressed the need to support Israel in its war against Hamas, Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies.
AIPAC's statement added, "The Israeli army is a moral army fighting on a complex and unprecedented urban battlefield in accordance with international law. It is confronting a terrorist group that deliberately and despicably uses innocent Palestinians as human shields, hides among and under civilians, and continues to hold 136 hostages, including 8 Americans."
Dylan Williams, vice president of the Center for International Policy, tweeted a comment on AIPAC's statement, describing it as "opposition to the Biden administration's modest move to support humanitarian law." He considered that AIPAC's position means "refusing to apply American law and the law of war to Israel," and allowing it to violate them at the expense of American taxpayers.
Conditional American aid
Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who has been pushing in the Senate to pass similar policies, described the new memorandum as placing new “conditions” on aid that could give the United States more leverage toward Israel. Although the new regulations apply to all countries receiving American weapons, they come amid increasing friction that has recently emerged between the Biden administration and Israel regarding the nature of its military operations in Gaza, as he put it.
Van Hollen said, "The memorandum was modeled on his demands in the Senate to impose conditions on the provision of aid, and included all the main and necessary elements."
Hollin added that the memorandum "will give the Biden administration much greater leverage to get the Netanyahu government to reduce civilian casualties in Gaza and overcome the political obstacles placed in the way of providing humanitarian aid to Gaza."
Howlin praised the memorandum for avoiding a vote on his draft resolution, which was likely to be opposed by Republicans, and which would likely divide Democrats, some of whom strongly oppose placing conditions on American aid to Israel. Senator Hollin's amendment was also unsubstantiated in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
Source: Al Jazeera