Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Friday that military aid to Israel should continue, leaving his White House position.
Cardin said in a statement that President Biden has threatened to withhold offensive aid from Israel if it moves forward with a ground invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where millions of Palestinians have fled the war. He said he disagreed.
“Although the latest report on Israel under NSM-20 raises concerns, Israel has not violated international humanitarian law and military assistance to support Israel’s security remains in the United States’ interest. I agree with the report’s assessment that it should continue,” Cardin said. .
“In this respect, I differ from President Biden’s recent decisions,” he said.
Biden’s decision to halt arms shipments to Israel, remains silent until after Holocaust memorial speech: Report
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) speaks to reporters outside the Senate chamber at the Capitol on April 23, 2024, in Washington, D.C., on Friday, President Biden’s decision to withhold bomb shipments to Israel. He said he disagreed with the decision. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Mr. Cardin’s statement came in response to a State Department report released Friday that found that the Israeli military’s alleged human rights violations were “serious” based on reliable United Nations and non-governmental sources. “Concerns” have been raised. The report documented credible allegations of human rights violations by Israeli security forces, “including arbitrary and unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, torture, and serious abuses during the conflict.”
The State Department report also cited figures from the Gaza Ministry of Health and said an estimated 34,700 Palestinians have died in the conflict with Israel since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack. The report called the estimates “reliable,” but noted that the Hamas ministry did not distinguish between Hamas fighters and civilians in casualties.
The State Department said it was “reasonable to assess” that U.S. defense articles “have been used by Israeli security forces since October 7th in cases inconsistent with its provisions.” [international humanitarian law] However, the report stopped short of accusing Israel of specific violations of humanitarian law, noting that Hamas hides military targets behind civilian populations and infrastructure.
Left-wing anti-Israel agitators in the United States are increasingly exasperated by Mr. Biden’s support for Israel, and Israel’s continued military operations in Gaza pose a political problem for Mr. Biden.
Democrats furious at Biden over halting arms shipments to Israel
President Joe Biden speaks during the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s annual memorial service at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Biden agreed last week to a moratorium on bomb shipments to Israel that could be used in the attack on Rafah, but the White House National Security Council said the president’s long-planned speech on Tuesday will end. The decision was kept silent until then. The event will commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Associated Press reported.
The cargo was supposed to consist of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs, a senior U.S. government official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.
In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Biden said he would halt some shipments of U.S. weapons to Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a large-scale invasion of the city of Rafah, the last major Hamas stronghold in the Gaza Strip. Then he said. It is the first time Biden has said he is prepared to condition American weapons on Israel’s actions in the seven-month war that began in response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.
“Civilians are being killed in Gaza as a result of bombs and other attacks on populated areas,” Biden told CNN’s Erin Burnett. “I think if they enter Rafah, they haven’t entered Rafah yet, but even if they enter Rafah, I have historically dealt with the city to deal with Rafah. We have made it clear that we will not supply weapons that have been used to
Biden vows to withhold weapons from Israel if Netanyahu goes ahead with Rafah invasion
Smoke billows after an Israeli airstrike on buildings near the separation wall between Egypt and Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, May 7. (AP/Ramez Haboob)
His decision has sparked a backlash from pro-Israel Democrats, now including Cardin, who say Biden’s decision was motivated by politics and the upcoming election in November. Some suggest that there is.
“I think it’s pandering to the far left,” said Congressman Ritchie Torres of New York. told Axios. “Election year politics seems to have driven it. That’s my impression.”
The Democratic Party is divided on Israel amid a wave of massive student protests on US college campuses. According to the Associated Press, anti-Israel agitators have set up illegal encampments on at least 50 campuses, and more than 2,800 people have been arrested by police called to break up the illegal gatherings.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania), an outspoken advocate of Israel’s right to protect it from Hamas, told Axios that he opposes Biden’s suspension of arms shipments.
Biden administration confirms suspension of bomb shipments to Israel over opposition to Rafah operation
President Biden has come under attack from Republicans as well as Democrats over his actions denying arms shipments to Israel. Pictured from right to left: Congressman Ritchie Torres (New York), President Biden, and Senator John Fetterman (D). (Getty Images)
“I’m adamantly against it,” Fetterman said. “We have to work with our key allies in all of this.”
Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nevada, said security assistance to Israel should be “unconditional” as the country faces threats from Iran and its proxies like Hamas. .
“The administration should do nothing that would undermine Israel’s ability to defeat Hamas and address growing threats across the region,” she told Jewish Insider.
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Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) agreed that U.S. support for Israel should continue.
“I don’t know what the president said. I haven’t seen what the actual operation in Rafah looks like, but I hope that Israel will continue to provide the military and diplomatic support it needs to protect itself. I certainly look forward to it.”
The White House pushed back on suggestions that Biden’s decision on Israel was motivated by politics.
“Americans expect the president to have the courage to make tough national security decisions and to put our nation’s security, interests, principles, and alliances above politics,” White House Press Secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement. “I am doing so,” he said. “That’s exactly what Joe Biden is doing. He supports Israel in fighting the Hamas terrorists who carried out the heinous attack on October 7th, and he doesn’t want to see any more civilians killed. This makes it clear that how Israel defends itself is important.
“Joe Biden is the only president in our nation’s history to order the U.S. military to actively protect Israel from foreign attack, and the only president to literally stand by Israel on the land of Israel during wartime.” Bates added.
Fox News Digital’s Jeffrey Clark and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
