United States support for Israel in the Gaza war

[32][33] Following Israel's victory over surrounding Arab forces in the 1967 Six-Day War and its subsequent occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, military assistance to the country surged significantly.

[34] On the question of why Joe Biden is reluctant to freeze arms transfers or impose conditions on future supplies, Guardian journalist, Robert Tait writes that the US is concerned that pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu could push him towards a common goal with Republicans in a year leading to the election.

"[169] Although the U.S. has asked Israel to protect civilians and allow humanitarian aid, State Secretary Antony Blinken acknowledged that there is "a gap" between these appeals and "the actual results that we’re seeing on the ground".

The United States has not used its leverage over Israel—its weapons transfers and diplomatic support—to ensure civilian safety, leading the Washington Post to describe American rhetoric as a "good cop-bad cop approach".

Aaron David Miller of the CEIP said that the Biden administration deserved credit for the humanitarian pause negotiations, but that it had "tethered" itself to Israeli war aims that cannot be achieved without bringing "grievous harm to the civilian population".

[183] Western leaders, pressed for weeks to say whether the loss of thousands of mostly civilian lives could be a violation of international law, spoke only tentatively, adding that they could not judge: "We're not going to get dragged into all this judge-and-jury role," US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said the US was complicit in war crimes,[193] and Amnesty International's Secretary General said that the veto showed that the US "displays a callous disregard for civilian suffering in the face of a staggering death toll".

"[204] Congressmembers Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Val Hoyle (D-OR) and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) condemned Biden's 2024 missile strikes in Yemen on January 12, stating that only Congress has the power to approve a war.

[234] During a February 2024 meeting between U.S. diplomats, humanitarian workers, and USAID director Samantha Power, staff were reportedly "visibly upset" with the administration's policy, with some wearing keffiyehs in protest and others breaking down into tears.

[236] In March 2024, another State Department staffer working on human rights, Anelle Sheline, resigned over the administration's support to the war, in particular its bypassing of Congress to authorize the sale of weapons to Israel.

[242] On February 25, 2024, Aaron Bushnell, a 25-year-old serviceman of the United States Air Force, died after setting himself on fire outside the front gate of the Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C., declaring that he would "no longer be complicit in genocide".

[250] In a meeting with Biden's campaign chair Julie Chávez Rodriguez, the publisher of Arab American News reportedly told her, "If this man wants our vote, he has to do more than Jesus Christ – bring a lot more dead back to life.

Allowing displaced Palestinians to return to their homes in northern Gaza and starting a 3-5 year reconstruction plan for the region, backed by the United States, Europe, and international institutions".

The survey also found a 53% sum total majority support for withdrawing military aid from Israel if it rejected the ceasefire proposal, including 70% of Democrats, 51% of Independents, 53% of swing voters, and 35% of Republicans, with 36% being against it.

[279][280] According to a Chicago Council on Global Affairs poll released on August 6, 2024, and conducted online between June 21 and July 1, 55% of all sum total respondents oppose using US troops to defend Israel if it is attacked by a neighboring country, whereas 41% support it.

[296] Democratic congressman Andre Carson of Indiana wrote to The Guardian, accusing Israel of "war crimes" and citing the Israeli Defence Forces' (IDF) alleged use of white phosphorus and this week's deadly bombing of the Jabalia refugee camp.

"[298] Like Carson, Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, particularly mentioned the alleged use of white phosphorus, as asserted by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW), as a violation that should bar Israel from getting aid from the US.

"[307] While suing Joe Biden as the largest provider of military aid to Israel, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) argued that "the United States has the means available to have a deterrent effect on Israeli officials now pursuing genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

[314] On December 14, 2023, Independent Senator Bernie Sanders introduced a privileged resolution invoking Section 502(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act, calling on the State Department to investigate Israeli crimes against humanity in its conduct of the war in Gaza.

[316] The proposal was defeated, 72 to 11, with only Sanders and Democratic Senators Jeff Merkley, Chris Van Hollen, Martin Heinrich, Laphonza Butler, Ed Markey, Ben Ray Luján, Mazie Hirono, Peter Welch and Elizabeth Warren and Republican Rand Paul voting for it.

The act's proponents refer to the increasing number of Gaza residents losing their lives as a result of military operations, the forced relocation of over a million people, and the escalating humanitarian situation following Israeli authorities' cuts to the region's supplies of fuel, food, water, and electricity.

[322] Raed Jarrar, director of advocacy at DAWN, an American nonprofit that fights for democracy and human rights in the Arab world, supported Palestinians who sued the State Department over US aid to the Israeli military, and called on the government to follow the Leahy law.

In response, Republican Thomas Massie defended his vote by saying he objected to a broad "open-ended promise of military support," while Democrats Cori Bush, Mark Pocan and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accused AIPAC of harming US democracy.

[334] Haaretz found that hundreds of fake social media accounts were targeting Democratic Party lawmakers with messages repeating Israeli government accusations relating to UNRWA and Hamas.

[377] In November 2024, the United States ordered ballistic missile defense destroyers, a fighter squadron, tanker aircraft, and Air Force B-52 long-range strike bombers to "make clear" to Iran that the U.S. would "take every measure necessary to defend" its interests in the region.

Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Cori Bush wrote a letter to the Biden Administration asking for an explanation as to the country's participation in Israel's military engagements and suggesting such collaboration was unauthorized and unconstitutional.

[380][381] The bill is intended to add the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's approved working definition of antisemitism to title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits "exclusion from participation in, denial of benefits of, and discrimination under federally assisted programs on ground of race, color, or national origin".

[382] Democratic representative Sara Jacobs, who is Jewish, said she opposed the bill because "it fails to effectively address the very real rise of antisemitism, all while defunding colleges and universities across the country and punishing many, if not all, of the non-violent protestors speaking out against the Israeli military’s conduct.

"[383] The proposed legislation would broaden the legal definition of antisemitism to include Anti-Zionism, criticism of the policies of the state of Israel, and concerns about Palestinian human rights, categorizing all of them as hate speech.

Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of the centrist pro-Israel group J Street, said that his organization opposes the bill because it is an "unserious" effort led by Republicans "to continually force votes that divide the Democratic caucus on an issue that shouldn’t be turned into a political football".