Six House Democrats sent a letter to US President Joe Biden Saturday calling continued US aid to Israel into question as the embattled Netanyahu government continues to block humanitarian aid from entering the besieged Gaza Strip. The country’s conduct, the lawmakers warned, risked putting Israel in violation of Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act which forbids US support for regimes blocking access to humanitarian assistance.
The move comes as the Biden administration allowed a United Nations resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza to pass after having blocked similar statements multiple times. The Israeli government, in turn, canceled a pair of Netanyahu advisors’ planned trip to Washington.
The developments have caused some to conclude that Biden’s position on Israel’s Gaza campaign has evolved after months of lockstep support. But analyst Misty Winston threw cold water on such claims during an appearance Monday on Sputnik’s The Critical Hour program.
“I don't think that this really has anything to do with much else other than it being an election year,” said the radio host and free speech activist. “The Biden administration is struggling desperately. They recognize the fact that the Palestine issue has really become the red line issue for a lot of people, including younger voters, who they are very desperately trying to kind of rein in.”
Winston cited the recent campaign among progressive activists to urge voters to mark “uncommitted” on their Democratic Party primary ballots as an act of protest against Biden’s handling of the issue. Polling has shown the president risks losing November’s election after angering large portions of his party’s base, including Arab American voters in swing states like Michigan.
“Within seconds of the [UN] resolution passing we had them downplaying it,” she noted, “[saying] 'oh, it's not binding' and all this other stuff. I think it's much ado about nothing.”
The Biden administration has continued to supply the Netanyahu regime with lethal aid even while occasionally citing opposition in public. A recent report revealed the White House has secretly sent over 100 aid packages to Israel, packaging the aid and weapons shipments in such a way as to avoid public and congressional scrutiny.
“We all know that Israel is going to break the ceasefire,” Winston said, noting the Netanyahu government returned to killing civilians in Gaza after a temporary ceasefire ended in November. “We know that they are going to continue to slaughter Palestinians. And I'm just curious, what are the repercussions when that inevitably happens?”
Winston also slammed allegedly progressive Democratic Party members like Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who only recently admitted that Israel’s campaign in Gaza is genocidal after an embarrassing encounter with protesters. The International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take steps to cease acts and statements from officials encouraging genocide in a case brought by South Africa earlier this year.
Ocasio-Cortez has frequently demonstrated ignorance on matters of foreign policy, once parroting the US State Department line on Chinese “oppression” of people in Tibet. The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has used the Dalai Lama and supporters of Tibet’s former slaveholding class as paid assets for decades. Living standards in the autonomous region have improved dramatically after Chinese leader Mao Zedong liberated Tibet from its feudal system.