Demand Progress

NPR just reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rebuffed President Biden when Netanyahu rejected discussions of statehood for Palestinians in Gaza after the war.¹ This is a fundamental disagreement between Biden and Netanyahu about peace in Israel-Palestine and a path towards ending the war. Shouldn’t a disagreement so central to the conflict prompt serious pause in the White House and Congress?

Instead, Biden has sold more than $250 million of tank shells, artillery munitions, and other military equipment to Israel over the last few weeks.² Congress must now take a stand and stop billions more in U.S. taxpayer-funded aid going to Israel to help fuel a war that has killed over 25,000 Palestinians.

Sign the petition: It’s time to condition aid to Israel so American tax dollars aren’t used to kill civilians and violate the human rights of Palestinians.

The United States gives billions of dollars in military aid to Israel each year on top of weapons transfers like the ones Biden authorized a few weeks ago. But Congress can act to stop our tax dollars from funding further violence against the Palestinian people.

Congress is considering sending $10 billion to Israel as part of a supplemental spending bill. Such an act right now, with the death toll rising in Gaza, would show Congress joining President Biden in at least tacitly supporting Israel’s military actions.

Hamas's attacks must be condemned, but Israel's response has been disproportionate and taken an extraordinary civilian toll. And the 155mm artillery shells President Biden sent to Israel are uniquely dangerous to civilians — unguided, explosive shells loaded with TNT that burst into around 2,000 metal fragments upon impact.³

The United States should not be contributing weapons to Israel’s bombing campaign, and President Biden certainly shouldn’t be making this decision without congressional input. The last president to sell weapons without Congressional approval: Donald Trump selling weapons to Saudi Arabia.⁴

It’s time for a permanent ceasefire in this war. And while a ceasefire is being negotiated, President Biden must take steps to limit civilian casualties in Gaza NOT add to them by providing more unconditional aid to Israel.

Add your name: Condition aid to Israel so American dollars aren’t used to perpetuate violence against Palestinians.

Sources:

1. NPR, "Israel's Netanyahu rejects any Palestinian sovereignty post-war, rebuffing Biden,” January 21, 2024.
2. New York Times, “Biden Administration Again Bypasses Congress for Weapons Sale to Israel," December 30, 2023.
3. OxFam, “Artillery Shells Transfer,” October 2023.
4. Reuters, “Defying Congress, Trump sets $8 billion-plus in weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, UAE," May 24, 2019.