On Gaza, Democrats Are Talking One Way but Walking Another

As public disapproval of Israel’s war on Gaza grows, it has become increasingly common for elected Democrats to criticize Israel. Nevertheless, the vast majority of them just voted for a bill that cements support for the onslaught as official US policy.

Most Americans no longer support Israel’s assault on Gaza. While half of US adults approved of it five months ago, only 36 percent do now according to a Gallup survey released Wednesday. Disapproval increased ten percentage points, including twelve points among Democrats. As of this month, 75 percent of Democratic voters disapprove of Israel’s actions.

This drastic shift in public opinion may have prompted a change in what elected Democrats say — criticism of Israel has gone from rare to commonplace — but it hasn’t changed what they do. The overwhelming majority of Democrats just voted for a bill that cements aiding and abetting genocide as official US policy.

The US spending bill encourages these genocidal acts by providing Israel with $3.8 billion in military aid — $3.3 billion from the State Department’s budget (p. 867) and $500 million from the Pentagon’s (p. 103). The extent to which Israel has destroyed Gaza and killed its people is largely the product of the United States’ willingness to finance it. Israel could not exact this level of devastation on its own.

The bill is generally hostile toward international law and human rights. It prohibits economic aid to Palestine if it becomes a member state of the UN or obtains the same stand…  ing as one without Israel’s approval, or if it initiates (or even supports) an investigation by the International Criminal Court into Israeli crimes against Palestinians (p. 875). It also sanctions the UN Human Rights Council if it doesn’t relegate Israel’s abuses to a lower spot on its agenda (p. 936) and bars funding for a UN investigation into Israeli human rights abuses (p. 938).

In the House, all but twenty-two Democrats voted for the bill. In the Senate, all but two did, and one technically isn’t a Democrat (Bernie Sanders, I-VT). The other, Michael Bennet (D-CO), said he voted against the bill because it doesn’t have any military aid for Ukraine (even though it does — see p. 149).

The recently passed spending bill is a wholesale endorsement of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians, a blatant attack on international law, and a moral abomination. And more than 90 percent of Democrats in Congress just voted for it.