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patrick leahy
Biden Greenlights 'Racist' and 'Sociopathic' $8B Arms Sale to Israel
Multiple human rights organizations and international bodies have accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza
Jan 04, 2025
The administration of US President Joe Biden announced on Saturday an arms sale to Israel valued at $8 billion, just ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House.
Biden has repeatedly rejected calls to suspend military backing for Israel because of the number of civilians killed during the war in Gaza. Israel has killed more than 45,000 people in Gaza, primarily women and children.
The sale includes medium-range air-to-air missiles, 155mm projectile artillery shells for long-range targeting, Hellfire AGM-114 missiles, 500-pound bombs, and more.
Human rights groups, former State Department officials, and Democratic lawmakers have urged the Biden administration to halt arms sales to Israel, citing violations of US laws, including the Leahy Law, as well as international laws and human rights.
The Leahy Law, named after former Sen. Patrick Leahy, requires the US to withhold military assistance from foreign military or law enforcement units if there is credible evidence of human rights violations.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s most significant Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called Biden’s new $8 billion arms deal “racist” and “sociopathic.”
Multiple human rights organizations and international bodies have accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for committing war crimes.
The US is, by far, the biggest supplier of weapons to Israel, having helped it build one of the most technologically sophisticated militaries in the world.
CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said on Saturday:
“We strongly condemn the Biden administration for its unbelievable and criminal decision to send another $8 billion worth of American weapons to the government of indicted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu instead of using American leverage to force an end to the genocide in Gaza.
“Only racists who do not view people of color as equally human, and sociopaths who delight in funding mass slaughter, could send Netanyahu even more bombs while his government openly kidnaps doctors, destroys hospitals, and exterminates the last survivors in northern Gaza.
“If President Biden is actually the person who approved this new $8 billion arms sale, then he is a war criminal who belongs in a cell at The Hague alongside Netanyahu. But if Antony Blinken, Brett McGurk, Jake Sullivan, and other aides are making these unconscionable decisions as shadow presidents, then anyone with a conscience in the administration should speak up now about their abuses of power.”
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the US accounted for 69% of Israel's imports of major conventional arms between 2019 and 2023.
On the other hand, incoming President-elect Donald Trump has also pledged unwavering support for Israel and has never committed to supporting an independent Palestinian state.
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Tlaib Leads Call for $1.2 Billion in Humanitarian Aid for War-Torn Yemen
"Without a significant increase in American assistance... we fear that 2023 will be a heartbreakingly deadly year for everyday Yemenis," Tlaib and 23 other House Democrats wrote.
Mar 27, 2023
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib on Monday led two dozen House Democrats in urging Congress to allocate at least $1.2 billion in humanitarian aid for Yemen—whose people have suffered eight years of U.S.-backed Saudi war—in next year's budget.
"As we approach the 8th anniversary of the Yemen war, the country remains stuck in a devastating cycle of conflict and humanitarian crisis that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives," Tlaib (D-Mich.) and 23 other lawmakers wrote in a letter to House Subcommittee on State and Foreign Relations Chair Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Fla.) and Ranking Member Barbara Lee (D-Calif.).
"Yemen has the grim title of the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with over 4 million Yemenis displaced and an estimated 80% of the country's 30 million people reliant upon some form of assistance for their survival," the letter, which was first sent last week, asserts.
The letter's authors lament that "international appeals for assistance for Yemen have consistently [fallen] short of their goals by large margins" and that "the continuous reduction in funding has greatly exacerbated the humanitarian suffering."
The United Nations "has had to close over 75% of its lifesaving programs, and the World Food Program has been forced to cut or reduce food distribution to 8 million people, increasing the number of areas at risk of famine," the letter notes.
"Without a significant increase in American assistance (which we believe would incentivize foreign nations to increase their support in turn), we fear that 2023 will be a heartbreakingly deadly year for everyday Yemenis," the signers assert.
The lawmakers urge Congress to include at least $1.2 billion "for humanitarian relief and reconstruction efforts in Yemen" in the budget for fiscal year 2024. They also ask the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development "to develop programming that directly invests in sustainably developing long-term economic opportunities for Yemenis."
Tlaib is one of four dozen bipartisan House lawmakers who last June introduced a War Powers Resolution to end "unauthorized" United States military involvement in the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen's civil war.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), along with Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), introduced a similar measure in the Senate. Last December, Sanders withdrew the resolution just before it was slated for a floor vote, while vowing to work with the Biden administration on ending U.S. involvement in the war.
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Citing Agreement With Biden, Sanders Withdraws Yemen War Powers Resolution
"We have a huge opportunity to remove unauthorized U.S. support for deadly and inhumane actions from Saudi Arabia, and Congress must act immediately," said one peace campaigner.
Dec 13, 2022
Update (8:56 pm EST):
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday night withdrew a Senate resolution to end U.S. involvement in the Saudi-led war on Yemen, but vowed to work with the Biden administration and congressional colleagues to keep trying.
"Today, I withdrew from consideration by the U.S. Senate my War Powers Resolution after the Biden administration agreed to continue working with my office on ending the war in Yemen," Sanders said in a statement.
"Let me be clear," Sanders continued: "If we do not reach agreement, I will, along with my colleagues, bring this resolution back for a vote in the near future and do everything possible to end this horrific conflict."
Earlier:
Anticipating an evening Senate vote on a resolution that, if passed, would block American support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, human rights defenders on Tuesday implored lawmakers to approve the measure and end what they call the United States' unconstitutional participation in the conflict.
"Members of Congress can't afford to punt on this any longer, and grassroots activists won't let them."
"For over seven years, Americans have been providing military support and weapons for Saudi Arabia that the dictatorship has used against civilians in Yemen. Article I of the Constitution says Congress--and not the president--has the power to declare war," wrote progressive activist Isaac Evans-Frantz, a co-leader of a national coalition against the war, in VTDigger Tuesday. "The 1973 War Powers Act further asserts Congress' role."
In July, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), along with Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), introduced a Senate war powers resolution (WPR) after a similar measure was put forth in the House by Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) the previous month. A procedural vote on the Senate resolution is scheduled for Tuesday at approximately 7:00 pm local time.
"We applaud Sen. Sanders' move to hold a vote on this critical resolution, and encourage all senators to vote in support of the WPR," Cavan Kharrazian, the foreign policy adviser at the advocacy group Demand Progress, said in a statement Tuesday.
\u201cNow more than ever we have a chance to resist the brutal war on Yemen. Take action below! #YemenCantWait\nhttps://t.co/4XD4em4zaR\u201d— CODEPINK (@CODEPINK) 1670779108
Kharrazian noted that President Joe Biden "has said he is looking to work with Congress to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for siding with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin in the war on Ukraine and its oil price hike for the United States."
"The Yemen WPR provides the last clear opportunity for Biden to hold Saudi Arabia accountable on these fronts, and is a direct, measured congressional response to Saudi Arabia and Mohammed bin Salman for their human rights violations, including the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi," he added.
The White House, however, is reportedly urging senators to vote down the resolution.
The Saudi-led intervention in support of the Yemeni government against Houthi rebels began several months after civil war broke out in the country in late 2014. According to United Nations humanitarian officials, nearly 400,000 people have died since then, and a Saudi blockade has exacerbated starvation and disease in the country of 30 million people--more than 23 million of whom required assistance in 2022.
Despite a promise to make Saudi Arabia a "pariah" due to its abysmal human rights record, an initial freeze on U.S. arms sales, and a pledge to end "offensive" support for the war, the administration of President Joe Biden--who infamously fist-bumped Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a July visit--continues to back the war while also selling the repressive kingdom billions of dollars worth of weaponry and services.
In addition to providing intelligence, logistics, refueling, search-and-rescue, and diplomatic support to the Saudi-led coalition, the United States has also conducted more than 100 airstrikes and some ground raids in Yemen as part of its 21-year, open-ended so-called War on Terror.
"When [Donald] Trump was president, Bernie and his Democratic colleagues like Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut had no problem going all-out against Trump's support for the Saudi aggression in Yemen," Evans-Frantz said. "With a Democrat in the White House, Congress has been abdicating its constitutional responsibility over war. Congress has competing priorities, but members of Congress can't afford to punt on this any longer, and grassroots activists won't let them."
\u201cNJ residents called on @SenatorMenendez #humanrightsday in Jersey City, Montclair NJ, and NYC\u2019s Union Square to break his silence & support the Yemen #WarPowers Resolution \ud83c\uddfe\ud83c\uddea\n#yemencantwait. RT to support.\n\n\u270a\u262e\ufe0f\ud83e\udea7\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f\ud83d\udce2\ud83d\udd4a\ufe0f\n\nPhoto credits: Hideko Otake, NJ Peace Action\u201d— Action Corps (@Action Corps) 1670867347
Indeed, hundreds of advocacy groups and activists have urged lawmakers to pass the Yemen WPR.
"We have a huge opportunity to remove unauthorized U.S. support for deadly and inhumane actions from Saudi Arabia, and Congress must act immediately," Kharrazian asserted. "The ceasefire in Yemen expired in October, and without a renewed peace agreement, Saudi Arabia could resume its bombing campaign in Yemen with crucial, unauthorized U.S. assistance."
"With uncertainty over what legislation will be able to pass in next year's Congress," he added, "this could be the last opportunity to pass the Yemen war powers resolution."
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