PREM THAKKER
The State Department has formally notified Congress of a direct sale of 6,500 joint direct attack munitions (JDAM) to Israel — while calls for an arms embargo to the government accused of war crimes grow louder.
JDAMs are guidance kits used to convert non-targeted bombs into more precise “smart” munitions. The order comes after the shipment, valued at $262 million, was reportedly delayed in May, as it was pending under review. Zeteo has learned that the sale will now go through.
The original review came as the U.S. sought to prevent Israeli forces from pursuing a major ground invasion in Rafah — where Israeli forces have nevertheless bombed multiple targets and had a large ground presence for months.
Sarah Leah Whitson, the executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), said it was “mind-boggling” for the administration to move forward with the sale.
“It is hard to comprehend how the Biden administration can justify rewarding Israel with new weapons, despite Israel’s persistent defiance of every single plea the Biden administration has made urging a modicum of restraint, and despite the very apparent fact that such sales violate black letter U.S. laws prohibiting weapons to gross abusers like Israel,” she said in a statement.
JDAMs are ostensibly justified as ways for military forces to carry out more precise attacks and “minimize” civilian harm. Meanwhile, such munitions are believed to have been used in the devastating Israeli attack on the al-Mawasi tent city that killed at least 90 people and injured another some 300.
“It’s appalling that the Biden administration continues to provide Israel with more offensive arms, in addition to the $3.5 billion in appropriated military funds (FMF) released to Israel today,” Yasmine Taeb, foreign policy expert and political director at civil rights group MPower Action, told Zeteo. “Millions of Americans are calling for an arms embargo on Israel and are looking to Kamala Harris to chart a new course on Gaza as the Democratic Party’s new Presidential nominee. Voters want and deserve assurances that the U.S. will enforce its own laws and comply with international humanitarian law.”
“Kamala, Kamala you can’t hide! We won’t vote for genocide,” they chanting, continuing.
“You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking,” Harris responded, prompting the crowd to chant “Kamala.”
Organizers with “Uncommitted” — a grassroots effort that has led to hundreds of thousands of Americans casting primary votes in protest of the Biden-Harris administration’s largely unconditional support for Israel’s war on Gaza — said two of their leaders spoke with Harris while she was in Detroit. They requested a meeting with Harris to further discuss demands of an arms embargo and a permanent ceasefire. Harris “shared her sympathies and expressed an openness to a meeting with Uncommitted leaders to discuss an arms embargo.”
However, the Vice President’s national security advisor Phil Gordon took to Twitter on Thursday to assure the Israeli government that Harris does not support an arms embargo, but will “continue to work to protect civilians in Gaza and to uphold international humanitarian law.”
And, on Friday, the Biden-Harris administration moved forward with approving the massive shipment even while the Israeli government continues to face an array of accusations of human rights and international law violations.
Raed Jarrar, DAWN’s advocacy director, said that Congress should introduce a joint resolution of disapproval to halt the sale. “Congressional oversight and debate are imperative, given the chaos within the senior staff of the White House, State Department, and Defense Department, which has led to an unprecedented wave of senior staff resignations over continued support for Israel’s war in Gaza.”
The news of the weapons sale come a day after Israeli forces bombed targets across the Gaza Strip, killing at least 40 people, according to Palestinian medics. The official Gaza Health Ministry death toll is now approaching 40,000.
Also Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken informed Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant that he ended the investigation into Israel’s “Netzah Yehuda” battalion for human rights violations — choosing to not impose sanctions on the unit. The State Department said the unit has been “effectively remediated.” Among the human rights violations the unit is accused of is killing a 78-year-old Palestinian-American after they detained him then left him bound, gagged, blindfolded, and exposed to the cold night. He suffered a heart attack while still bound.
Josh Paul, a senior advisor for DAWN who resigned from the State Department in protest of U.S. policy on Israel’s war on Gaza, said the U.S. is telling the world that it’s not a force for peace, but a facilitator for more bloodshed. “The Biden Administration’s unwillingness to designate Netzah Yehudah under the Leahy Laws is not just a further endorsement of Israeli war crimes, but an egregious assault on the rule of law at home,” he said in a statement. “I don’t know how Antony Blinken looks at himself in the mirror.”
Meanwhile, the International Court of Justice recently ruled the Israeli government is committing acts of apartheid — months after it had ordered Israel to stop and prevent acts of genocide. The International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor is seeking arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Gallant for war crimes. (Gallant is whom Blinken spoke with and assured the U.S. would not sanction the alleged war criminal unit).
“To unite Democrats before November, we need Vice President Harris to state clearly whether or not she intends to send American weapons that violate domestic and international humanitarian law to Israel or any other country,” Waleed Shahid, advisor to Uncommitted, told Zeteo. “This issue will likely continue to divide the coalition into the fall as disruptions at rallies and student encampments are likely to continue if she doesn’t articulate a clear policy difference between herself and Biden.”