Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on March 30, 2024

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) isnt known as a Capitol Hill bomb-thrower, making grandiose statements for the publicity.

So its especially noteworthy when he describes Israels blocking of food for children in Gaza as a war crime.

His genial personality hasnt mitigated his fierce, persistent push for Israel to allow Gaza more humanitarian aid and for Washington, Israels chief military supplier, to act decisively if it doesnt.

Van Hollens steady stream of statements on the Mideast conflict and his behind-the-scenes White House discussions have been informed and fueled by his January trip to the Rafah crossing from Egypt to Israel. There, he visited a warehouse with necessities that Israel stopped from going into Gaza, including maternity kits, water purifier pills, water filtration devices and solar-powered desalinization units.

United Nations officials have warned that about one-quarter of Gazas population faces imminent famine and that almost everyone there suffers from woefully inadequate humanitarian food assistance to survive. Israels retaliation against Gaza has killed more than 32,000 people. Thats about 27 times the number who died Oct. 7 when Hamas attackers killed 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped about 250, including around 100 who remain captive. Van Hollens sharp criticism of Israel does not include accusations of genocide.

The Federal Insider talked with Van Hollen last week about the conflict in his Hart Senate Office Building suite, which was bathed in natural light even on a cool, cloudy day. Here are edited excerpts from that interview.

In a Senate speech last month, you said kids in Gaza are now dying from the deliberate withholding of food that is a war crime. It is a textbook war crime. That makes those who orchestrate it war criminals. Are you accusing Israel of war crimes? Were you saying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal?

Im saying that those who are involved in deliberately restricting humanitarian assistance into Gaza are violating international humanitarian law. And you have to go through a process to determine which individuals. But I can assure you that people like [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir and [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich, who are some of the most extreme-right members of the government, have said that Israel should stop delivering humanitarian assistance, and they themselves have taken themselves, have taken actions to prevent the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza.

Is the United States complicit in a war crime because it continues to provide the arms that are bombing Gaza?

I think the United States needs to be very careful, not to be caught up in that. Which is why I continue to encourage the administration to take stronger and bolder action. The Biden administration and the president have actively been trying to improve the situation with respect to access to humanitarian assistance. Theyve been trying. My point is that theyve only been marginally successful, and therefore we need to use more levers of our influence to accomplish our goals.

The March 11 letter to President Biden from you and other senators said the Netanyahu government is in violation of the Foreign Assistance Act, which says, No assistance shall be furnished to any country when it is made known to the President that the government of such country prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance. Isnt it the U.S. government that is in violation of the law because it is Washington that provides the aid?

What we said was, the way that the Netanyahu government was restricting humanitarian aid into Gaza and within Gaza, violating the terms of U.S. law. Youre absolutely right, its up to the U.S. government to apply American law. And we wrote to the president saying, Youre aware of this humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Theres a current law on the books. Its title is the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act, and it needs to be applied under these circumstances.

You were directly involved in crafting President Bidens National Security Memorandum/NSM-20, which requires nations receiving U.S. military aid to act in a manner consistent with international humanitarian law. The Washington Post reported that Israel provided written assurances that its use of U.S.-supplied defense equipment does not violate international humanitarian or U.S. human rights law. Do you believe those assurances?

With respect specifically to the obligations to allow access to humanitarian assistance, I dont believe that the Netanyahu government is in compliance with the requirements of National Security Memorandum 20.

Do you think the United States should stop military aid to Israel, except for the air defense mechanisms that youve supported?

The purpose of the National Security Memorandum 20 is not to cut off all assistance, but its purpose is to use our influence to achieve our goals. So, if that means pausing the delivery of bombs to be used in Gaza until the Netanyahu government meets the terms of NSM-20 and allows more humanitarian assistance in Gaza, yes, I think we should use our leverage to make sure more people dont starve to death in Gaza.

The president is clearly trying to limit civilian casualties. Hes trying to get more assistance in. So the question becomes, if youre unsuccessful at achieving those goals, at what point do you no longer provide the bombs that are being used in Gaza?

Do you think were at that point?

We do need to use our leverage when it comes to military support, nondefensive military support, to prevent more people from starving to death in Gaza. Yes. I think we do need to do that.

According to two recent polls, about 80 percent of Jewish Israelis say Israel should not take into consideration the suffering of the Palestinians as long as hostages are held in Gaza. Doesnt that bolster Netanyahu and make the course you advocate harder.

I think that right now, Prime Minister Netanyahus overriding interest is his own political ambition and not the interests of the people of Israel. As Ive said, the war against Hamas is just in the sense that Israel, of course, is within its rights and I would say has a duty to defend its people after the horrific October 7th attacks. But a just war nevertheless must be fought justly. Among the many obstacles to peace is Netanyahu specifically because Netanyahu has very publicly rebuffed President Bidens call for creating some light at the end of this dark tunnel with a two-state solution.

How do you characterize the Biden administrations approach to this conflict?

The Biden administration has not made the most effective use of the tools that we have in order to implement the presidents own request. In other words, the president has repeatedly requested that the Netanyahu government take certain actions. And unfortunately, the Biden administration, for the most part, has been rebuffed. And so my view is that the credibility of the Biden administration and the United States requires that we back up our requests with real action.

And real action would be pausing military assistance until aid is allowed freely into Gaza?

[Pausing] offensive military assistance, like bombs. Again, the goal is not to cut off military assistance. The goal is to ensure that people dont die of starvation in Gaza.

The White House and the Israeli Embassy did not respond to Van Hollens statements about military assistance.

Go here to see the original:

Perspective | Van Hollen pushes Israel for more Gaza aid and against 'war crimes' - The Washington Post

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