Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said Friday that military aid to Israel should continue, departing from the White House position.
In a statement, Cardin said he disagreed with President Biden, who has threatened to withhold offensive aid from Israel if it continues a ground invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where millions of Palestinians have sought refuge from war.
“While the most recent report on Israel under NSM-20 has raised concerns, I agree with its assessment that Israel has not violated International Humanitarian Law and that military assistance to support Israel's security remains in the interest of United States and must continue,” Cardin said. .
“In this sense, I differ from President Biden's recent decision,” he said.
BIDEN'S DECISION TO WITHDRAW ARMS SHIPPING FROM ISRAEL KEPT SILENT UNTIL AFTER HOLOCAUST REMEMBERMENT: REPORT
Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) speaks to reporters outside the Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill on April 23, 2024, in Washington, D.C. Cardin said Friday that he disagreed with President Biden's decision to retain a shipment of bombs to Israel. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Cardin's statement came in response to a State Department report released Friday, which raised “serious concerns” based on credible UN and non-governmental sources about alleged human rights violations by Israeli forces. The report documented credible allegations of human rights abuses by Israeli security forces, “including arbitrary or unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, torture and serious conflict abuses.”
The State Department report also said an estimated 34,700 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict with Israel since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack, citing figures from Gaza's Health Ministry. The report called the estimate “credible” but noted that the Hamas-controlled ministry does not distinguish between Hamas fighters and civilians in its casualty count.
The State Department said it is “reasonable to assess” that American defense items “have been used by Israeli security forces since October 7 in cases inconsistent with their [international humanitarian law] obligations or with established best practices to mitigate harm to civilians.” However, the report stopped short of accusing Israel of specific violations of humanitarian law and noted that Hamas hides military objectives behind civilian populations and infrastructure.
Israel's continued military operation in Gaza has created a political problem for Biden, as left-wing anti-Israel agitators in the United States are increasingly angered by his support for Israel.
DEMOCRATS EXPLODE BID TO STOP ARMS SHIPMENTS TO ISRAEL
President Joe Biden speaks at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's annual Days of Remembrance ceremony at the U.S. Capitol, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Biden approved a pause on sending bombs to Israel that could be used in a possible attack on Rafah last week, but the White House National Security Council kept the decision secret until the president gave a long-planned speech on Tuesday. to commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Associated Press reported.
The shipment was supposed to consist of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs, a senior U.S. administration official told the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.
In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Biden said he would halt some US arms shipments to Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a major invasion of the city of Rafah, Hamas's last major stronghold in the Gaza Strip. It was the first time Biden said he was willing to condition American weaponry on Israel's action in the seven-month war launched in response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.
“Civilians have died in Gaza as a result of those bombs and other ways in which they attack population centers,” Biden told CNN's Erin Burnett. “I made it clear that if they go to Rafah – they haven't gone to Rafah yet – if they go to Rafah, I will not provide them with the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities. who deal with that problem.”
BIDEN VOWS TO WITHHOLD WEAPONS FROM ISRAEL IF NETANYAHU GOES FORWARD WITH RAFAH INVASION
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on buildings near the separation wall between Egypt and Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, May 7. (AP/Ramez Habboub)
His decision has sparked backlash from a growing chorus of pro-Israel Democratic lawmakers, now including Cardin, some of whom have suggested that Biden's decision was motivated by politics and the upcoming November election.
“I suspect he's pandering to the far left,” said Rep. Ritchie Tores, D-N.Y. he told axios. “It seems like election-year politics drove it. That's my impression.”
The Democratic Party is divided over Israel amid a massive wave of student protests on US college and university campuses. Anti-Israel agitators have set up illegal camps on at least 50 college campuses and more than 2,800 have been arrested by police called in to break up illegal gatherings, according to the Associated Press.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., an outspoken supporter of Israel's right to defend itself from Hamas, told Axios that he opposed Biden's pause on arms shipments.
THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION CONFIRMS THE PAUSE OF SHIPPING BOMBS TO ISRAEL DUE TO OPPOSITION TO THE OPERATION IN RAFAH
President Biden is being attacked by Republicans and even Democrats for his actions to deny weapons shipments to Israel. Pictured, from right to left: Rep. Ritche Torres, D-N.Y., President Biden, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa. (Getty Images)
“I totally disagree,” Fetterman said. “We have to support our key ally through all of this.”
Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., said security assistance to Israel should be “unconditional” as Israel faces threats from Iran and its allied groups, such as Hamas.
“The administration should not do anything that undermines Israel's ability to defeat Hamas and address growing threats throughout the region,” he told Jewish Insider.
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Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., agreed that U.S. support for Israel must continue.
“I don't know what the president meant. I haven't seen what the actual operation is in Rafah, but I certainly hope that we continue to provide the military and diplomatic support that Israel needs to defend itself,” he said.
The White House rejected the suggestion that Biden's decision on Israel was motivated by politics.
“The American people expect their presidents to have the courage to make difficult national security decisions and to put our security, interests, principles and alliances above politics,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement. a statement. “That's exactly what Joe Biden is doing. He's standing alongside Israel as they fight the Hamas terrorists who committed the horrific attacks on October 7, and he's making it clear that how Israel defends itself is important because we don't want to see more civilians killed.”
“Joe Biden is the only president in our history who has ordered the US military to actively defend Israel from foreign attack, and the only president who has literally stood by Israel, on Israeli soil, during times of war,” Bates added.
Fox News Digital's Jeffrey Clark and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
