National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan confirmed Monday that the Biden Administration would consider cutting off arms sales to Israel if it did not submit a report explaining how its use of the weapons complies with international law.
Sullivan added that he expected Israel to provide such a report, but did not rule out ending U.S. supplies to Israel.
From the White House briefing transcript:
Q Thank you, Jake. The deadline for Israel to comply with the National Security Memorandum … is coming up on Sunday. Has Israel responded in writing?
MR. SULLIVAN: So, first, when you say “to comply,” what they have to do by Sunday is just provide credible and reliable assurances that they will abide by their international obligations, not obligations we’ve imposed upon them, but — but obligations they have freely accepted with respect to international humanitarian law, which, of course, includes not arbitrarily impeding the flow of humanitarian assistance where they can control that.
So, I cannot tell you today — confirm today that they have provided that. Obviously, as you said, they have several more days before they have to do so. And we anticipate that they will.
The New York Sun’s Benny Avi reported:
Last week, seven Democrats, led by Senators Van Hollen, Merkley, and Sanders, alleged that Israel is violating section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. They urged Mr. Biden to limit offensive arms to the IDF.
…
Yet, how evenly are such laws enforced globally? In reality, arms are sold to foes and allies alike in a five continents, with little notice of rights violations. Mr. Biden urged Congress last month to approve the sale of F-16s to Turkey, even as it massacres Kurds in Iraq and Syria.
…
In a deep analysis of the Gaza war, the chairman of urban warfare studies at West Point, John Spencer, concluded that Israel “has painstakingly followed the laws of arms conflict and implemented many steps to prevent civilian casualties, despite enormous challenges.” Denying arms to Israel, then, would be a “political decision” that is “not backed by what has actually happened in Israel and Gaza,” Mr. Spencer tells the Sun.
Avni noted that Democrats had typically pushed for human rights provisions to be enforced against American allies, but not American enemies or rivals, creating an impression that the U.S. is not a reliable friend to have.
Israel has been adamant that it adheres to the highest standards of human rights and international humanitarian law, in Gaza and in general.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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