Democrats in the House of Representatives and the Senate are discussing how to create conditions for providing future military aid to Israel, according to the American website Axios, which indicated an escalation of disagreement between Democrats regarding the war, amid pressure from activists in favor of ending it.
The American website Axios revealed the escalation of disagreements within the corridors of the Democratic Party regarding the American military support provided to Israel during the war on the Gaza Strip.
According to the site, a call by a senior progressive in the Senate to link aid to Israel to calming the war in Gaza sparked a violent reaction from pro-Israel Democrats.
The website noted that this disagreement is the latest between Democrats regarding the war, at a time when lawmakers are facing tremendous pressure from pro-Palestinian activists to end the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Senator Bernie Sanders (from Vermont) said in a statement yesterday, Saturday, that “the United States provides aid to Israel worth $3.8 billion annually, and the Biden administration wants to provide an additional $14.3 billion.”
He added that the Israeli government "must understand that it will not receive a single dollar from the United States unless there is a fundamental change in its military and political positions."
conditions
Sanders' conditions on Israel include a "significant cessation of military operations" in Gaza, refraining from long-term "reoccupation or siege" of Gaza, an end to settler violence in the West Bank and a "commitment to broad peace talks to achieve a two-state solution following the war."
The House of Representatives approved a military aid package worth $14.3 billion to Israel at the beginning of this November, but it stalled in the Senate.
Democrats, including the thirteen who supported the aid, criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) for linking the aid to cuts in IRS funding.
Senate Republicans launched a surprise campaign to force a vote on the measure last week, but Democrats voted to scuttle it.
It is unlikely that Sanders will stand alone in the leftist campaign to impose conditions on aid to Israel.
A knowledgeable aide told Axios that progressives in the House and Senate are engaged in ongoing “preliminary” discussions about imposing conditions on aid to Israel.
News of the discussions, followed by Sanders' statement, were met with quick responses from pro-Israel lawmakers.
“Any legislation that imposes conditions on security assistance to our key Democratic ally, Israel, will not work and will lose dozens of votes,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) said in a statement.
Representative Brad Schneider (D-Illinois) likened Sanders' proposal to Johnson's bill, saying that both "only serve the interests of those who oppose Israel and peace."
Sanders' statement comes at a time when a growing number of Democrats in the House of Representatives are joining calls for a ceasefire, instead of the short truce proposed by the Biden administration.
The number of Democrats demanding a ceasefire rose from about a dozen left-wing members last month to more than 30, including a number of Jewish lawmakers.
The Houthis seize a ship in the Red Sea and Tel Aviv: There are no Israelis among its crew
The Israeli army reported that the Yemeni Houthi group seized a cargo ship in the southern Red Sea, while it was sailing from Turkey to India, and described the incident as a “very serious incident on a global level,” stressing that there were no Israelis among its crew.
The Israeli army said, on Sunday, that the Yemeni Houthi group seized a cargo ship in the southern Red Sea, while it was sailing from Turkey to India, and described the incident as “a very serious incident on a global level.”
A post on social media stated that the ship, whose name was not mentioned, is not owned by Israelis and that none of its crew are Israelis, while Hebrew media reported that the Israeli authorities said that the ship detained in the Red Sea is owned by an Israeli businessman.
A statement issued by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned what it described as "the Iranian attack on an international ship." The statement said, "Israel expects an escalation of Tehran's aggression."
The statement added: "Monitoring a new Iranian terrorist act is considered a major escalation against the citizens of the free world, and the hijacking of the ship will create international repercussions related to the security of global shipping lanes."
The statement also indicated that "the Houthis in Yemen hijacked a ship owned by a British company and operated by a Japanese company," denying that there were "Israelis" on board. He explained: "There are 25 individuals on board the ship of different nationalities, including Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Filipinos, and Mexicans."
For his part, the spokesman for the Houthi forces in Yemen, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announced in a blog post on the X platform, on Sunday, that “an important statement by the Yemeni armed forces will be issued in the coming hours.”
Private sources told a TRT Arab correspondent that the crew of the ship on board were of different nationalities.
Earlier today, Sunday, the Yemeni Houthi group vowed to target ships owned or operated by Israeli companies, in support of the Gaza Strip, which is subjected to a devastating war, calling on countries to withdraw their citizens working on the crews of these ships.
The military spokesman for the Houthi forces, Yahya Saree, said in a statement through his account on the
Saree called on all countries to “remove their citizens working on the crews of these ships, avoid shipping on board or dealing with them, and inform your ships to stay away from these ships.”
He added that this comes "out of religious, national and moral responsibility, and in view of the brutal Israeli-American aggression that the Gaza Strip is being exposed to, with daily massacres and genocide."
On October 31, the Houthi group announced for the first time targeting Israel with a large number of missiles and drones, and then later announced similar attacks.
On October 19, the US Navy announced the interception of several missiles in the Red Sea after they were launched from Yemen, and the Israeli occupation army also announced on several occasions the interception of missiles and drones that attacked cities in southern Palestine.