Congress, AIPAC, and Gaza: Inside the Politics of US Support for Israel
It may be impossible for a functioning mind, a rationally thinking person to understand how the world, the entire planet of 195 countries allowed Israel’s brutal genocide against Palestinian children and its families to occur on a daily basis, consistently for more than two years.
Specifically, equally puzzling to grasp how the American public returned to its shallow material world, to avoid the painful reality that it was a US President, the one who campaigned and was elected as a Peace President who created an appalling dilemma. That same President supplied Israel with $22 B worth of weapons, missiles and bombs to conduct an incessant violent attack on a defenseless Gaza population.
While over $4 billion worth of weapons were transferred almost immediately from U.S. stocks which no doubt contributed to the US weapon shortfall for the war with Iran, the Gaza war was perhaps the first obvious identification of a long-term US-Israel alliance to function as one coordinated military campaign.
That military effort saw no relief from the hundreds of devastated schools, twelve universities, over 1900 hospitals and residential neighborhoods especially targeted doctors, medical personnel, ambulances, journalists and anyone who happened to be in the way, even a child throwing stones – all accomplished with American weapons and no apology.
Without US taxpayer funding, Israel’s unspeakable destruction on Gaza which included elimination of its water supply, its sewer and electric systems would not have occurred as the US would not be complicit with Israel war crimes.
Given the intersection between the US funds supporting Israel’s foreign policy, there has been no evidence of a conscience within the Trump Administration or within the majority of Congress who sat idly by reading the WSJ.
Since the Gaza genocide, Israel has been in violation of international law that protected the Palestinian territory in the West Bank and have killed over 1000 Palestinians, demolishing 6,000 Palestinian home with 200 new illegal settlements in Palestinian territory. Development within the West Bank is consistent with Israel government policy sweeping changes in removing constraints on West Bank’s legal status for settlement expansion.
As long as mainstream media does not divulge details of Israel’s on going mass slaughter of an estimated 236,000 civilians or the connection between the US funding Israel’s foreign policy, the American public remains comfortably immune from any responsibility for the fate of Gaza’s 2.2 million population.
Contributing to US-Israel participation as war criminals was an inventory of US-supplied attack aircraft were F-15s, F-16s, and F-35s including most of its attack helicopters.
If the US decreased its weapons to Israel, the war in Lebanon would be equally diminished as Sanders’s joint resolution of congressional disapproval would have impacted the proposed military equipment sale to Israel of those ‘defense’ articles.
As the US Congress appear preoccupied with enabling wars, there was no serious effort to stop either of the Israel wars or the war of aggression against Iran just as there has been no real concern about the ever-expanding $39 trillion federal debt largely attributed to US wars in the last 50 years.
*****
On April 15, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt), a moral voice in the Senate, proposed SJ Res 138, a joint resolution for congressional disapproval of the proposed foreign military sale to the Government of Israel of certain defense articles and services.
Those defense articles included $151 million for 12,000 1,000-pound bombs and $295 million for armed bulldozers for military operations capable of leveling entire communities.
The Senate record shows the Sanders vote lost on a 63- 36 vote with 11 Democratic Senators voted NO on the bombs issue with all GOP Senators voting against Sanders. Those No Senate Dem votes included their “Israel Lobby Total” funding not just their PAC donations:
- Senators Blumenthal $1.7 M (Conn),
- Fetterman $2 M (Pa),
- Rosen $7.6 M (Nev),
- Schumer $6.5 M (NY),
- Gillibrand $3.3 M (NY),
- Coons $1.7 M (Del),
- Cortez Masto 3.7 M (Nev),
- Reed $1 M (RI),
- Peters $3.3 M (Mich),
- Warner (Va) $3 M, Whitehouse (RI)
- $1.5 M with Sen. Tillis (NC) ‘Not Voting’.
Sen. Chris van Hollen, one of the Senate’s Members who does not accept AIPAC campaign funds, spoke in favor of Sander’s Resolution reminded the Senate that only Congress has power to declare war and that no President has that authority.
On the House side, on April 16th a vote on the War Powers Resolution lost by one vote 213-214 with one GOP vote in favor of the Resolution: Rep. Tom Massie (Ky) while one Democrat voted No against War Powers: Rep. Jared Golden (Me) $3.7 M from AIPAC (2025-2026).
Four Non-Voting GOP Members were Reps. Boebert (Colo), Davidson (Ohio), Mace (Ky.) and Kean (NJ). Obviously, if any of those four had voted in favor of war powers would have been sufficient to adopt the Resolution.
It is essential to consider that every Member who receives AIPAC funding or other extracurricular campaign donations are receiving those funds in addition to $175K salary plus generous federal benefits even after their term in office is complete; benefits like healthcare, retirement pension and reimbursement for staff.
Out of 535 Members of Congress, approximately 21 Members totally “reject AIPAC funds citing a preference to base foreign policy decisions on human rights and international law.”
“We are going to have a focus on stopping candidates who are detractors of Israel or who want to put conditions on aid,” Patrick Dorton, a spokesperson for AIPAC’s super PAC, the United Democracy Project.
- Image credit: Jewish Voices for Peace.
No comments: