Senators Ask Biden to Repeal Policies on West Bank Sanctions, Arms Aid
Nine Republican senators urged President Joe Biden to rescind his recent executive order on West Bank sanctions and his new memorandum on U.S. foreign military aid, saying both treat Israel unfairly.
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In a Feb. 29 letter, the lawmakers said the Feb. 1 executive order, which allows the U.S. to sanction "foreign persons" responsible for an increase in West Bank violence (see 2402010053), has “no defined standards for determining when sanctions are warranted.” As a result, “it appears the State Department can punish arbitrarily any Israeli it wants.”
The letter says sanctions would be more appropriate for the Palestinian Authority for paying Palestinians who commit terrorist attacks.
The senators said the Feb. 8 memorandum, which requires the State Department to obtain written assurances that military aid recipients will follow international humanitarian law (see 2402120051), “falsely implies that Israel is committing mass war crimes” in its war against Hamas, even though “Israel has provided ample evidence of the steps it takes to avoid civilian casualties.”
The letter was led by Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and also signed by Sens. Katie Britt of Alabama, Ted Budd of North Carolina, Ted Cruz of Texas, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Rick Scott of Florida and Roger Wicker of Mississippi.
The White House had no immediate comment on the letter.
The letter was sent a day after Cruz introduced a bill to prohibit the U.S. government from waiving anti-terrorism sanctions to send foreign aid to the Gaza Strip or the West Bank. Cruz said that his proposed Terminating Unlawful Negligence and Nullifying Exemptions and Licenses to Sanctions (TUNNELS) Act would help ensure the U.S. does not fund humanitarian organizations that divert aid to terrorist groups.