Put US Aid to Israel in an Escrow Account Until Human Rights Violations End

The inability of U.S. citizens, even a majority, to influence our country’s policies of war and peace in a rapid and effective way has long been obvious to many. Our support for Israel’s war in Gaza has made it painfully obvious—and now perilous.

The U.S. stands before the world as an accomplice to Israel’s flagrant violation of international law in Gaza. Yet Congress continues to pass aid because so many of our legislators—and their constituents and donors—cannot turn their backs on our ally, for valid reasons of historical memory and conscience.

So it is time to create an escrow account for further aid to Israel. With such an account we can still show support for our ally. But the aid will not be released until the U.N. certifies that Israel is in compliance with international law regarding the treatment of civilians in Gaza.

Many would argue, not without reason, that the U.N. is unlikely, at present, to certify Israel as being in any way compliant with international law. But Israel’s disputes with the U.N. and its member nations must be worked out there. The U.N. admitted Israel as a member state in 1949. The U.S. can help as a go-between. But not in an atmosphere where President Joe Biden’s warning to Netanyahu to avoid our country’s post-9/11 mistakes has been so violently ignored.

As congressional majorities continue to pass aid to Israel, let the escrow account signal U.S. refusal to comply any longer with collective punishment: blockade, planned starvation, and indiscriminate bombing.

Israel’s sovereign right to self-defense is always invoked as the bedrock principle that keeps U.S. aid flowing. Let our ally now respect that same right of self-defense for our country. The U.S. must defend itself from indictment and prosecution as an accomplice to Israel’s violations of international law. Our aid to Israel can be sequestered in an escrow account until it will not be used to commit such violations.

The Biden administration has been willing to acknowledge U.S. foreign policy mistakes that spiraled out of control. Let Congress encourage Israel to do the same by establishing this escrow account. As congressional majorities continue to pass aid to Israel, let the escrow account signal U.S. refusal to comply any longer with collective punishment: blockade, planned starvation, and indiscriminate bombing.

Members of Congress who have vowed to support Israel can honor their consciences by passing bills to aid Israel’s economic health and pragmatic self-defense. But we who feel the deep moral injury, to ourselves and Israel, and see the horrific physical suffering of Gaza and its people, can also honor our consciences by promoting this practical step to end U.S. complicity with these grave errors that are visible throughout the world as violations of international law. This can be achieved, without abandoning Israel, by placing our promised aid to our longtime ally in an escrow account. On behalf of the majority of Americans, we ask U.S. Senators to consider this option before continuing to approve military aid for Israel.