Is US Rethinking Arms Exports to Israel After UK Halt? Biden Official Says ‘No’

Palestine defenders hopeful that the United Kingdom’s announcement of a partial suspension of arms export licenses to Israel were left disappointed on Tuesday after a U.S. State Department official said the Biden administration was not considering any similar move.

Asked by CBS News national security reporter Olivia Gazis during a daily press conference if the U.K.’s decision “changed the U.S.’ position on whether international humanitarian rights have been violated” by Israel or if the U.S. is “rethinking any of its arms exports,” Miller said “no.”

“This is a decision that the United Kingdom made based on its assessments under its own laws,” he said. “We have our assessments that are ongoing when it comes to looking at possible violations of international humanitarian law, and those continue to be ongoing.”

Miller – who has admitted that the Gaza death toll could be even higher than the figure claimed by Palestinian authorities – added that there are “a number of incidents” committed by Israeli forces that “remain under review.”

.@Olivia_Gazis asked StateSpox if the US is rethinking any arms exports to Israel after UK decision to halt some weapons

Miller: No…we have our own assessments

Gazis: Last we heard of those was in April, there’s been no updates since April

Miller: No… pic.twitter.com/SjYoaxkH7R

— Assal Rad (@AssalRad) September 3, 2024

Pressed by Reuters foreign policy correspondent Hümeyra Pamuk how “two countries with pretty similar values” are “looking at the same battlefield and coming with very different conclusions,” Miller said that “we have not reached conclusions.”

“We have reviews that are ongoing, and we haven’t made any final determinations or any final conclusions yet,” he continued.

Miller said that the U.K. makes “their determinations based on the standard that is written in U.K. law. We will make our determinations based on the standard based in U.S. law, which I don’t think is that hard to understand.”

“We’ve said that it’s reasonable to assess that there have been violations of international humanitarian law committed,” Miller acknowledged. “What we are doing is going and looking at specific incidents to make specific judgments on those specific incidents to find if they have been remediated… what are the actions that Israel took, if any.”

“You have to answer those two questions before you can make those determinations under United States law,” he added. “That’s what we’re doing.”

Asked when those assessments will be completed, Miller said, “As soon as possible.”

Matthew Miller and the U.S. State Department’ spokespeople will be forever remembered as a face of this genocide. https://t.co/mqzrnUPPL1

— Xavier Abu Eid (@xabueid) September 3, 2024

In addition to providing Israel with tens of billions of dollars in armed aid, the Biden administration also shields the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations by vetoing Security Council cease-fire resolutions. Experts argue this makes the United States complicit in what many jurists and scholars say is genocide. Israel is currently on trial for the crime of genocide at the International Court of Justice. Last week, Palestinians, Palestinian Americans, and rights groups asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to revisit a lawsuit accusing senior Biden administration officials of complicity in genocide.

Meanwhile, International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan has applied for arrest warrants targeting Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged “crimes of causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies, [and] deliberately targeting civilians in conflict.”

Khan also wants to arrest Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh, and Mohammed Deif for alleged “extermination, murder, taking of hostages, rape, and sexual assault in detention.” Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran in July. Israel also claims to have killed Deif.

Biden and members of his administration have decried Khan’s bid to arrest Israeli leaders and members of U.S. Congress from both major parties support legislation to sanction ICC officials over its prosecutor’s pursuit of warrants.

On Tuesday, the Department of Justice charged six senior leaders of Hamas – a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization – with terrorism, murder conspiracy, and sanctions evasion.

The Gaza Health Ministry said Tuesday that Israel’s 333-day assault on Gaza has left more than 145,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing. The Israeli onslaught has displaced nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million people and pushed much of Gaza into famine.

Instead of pursuing a different policy toward Israel amid its increasing international isolation over the Gaza war, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris – who became 2024 Democratic presidential nominee after Biden bowed out of the race in July – has flatly said she will not block any arms transfers to Israel. Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, is expected to be even more supportive of Israel if he wins a second term.

Brett Wilkins is is staff writer for Common Dreams. Based in San Francisco, his work covers issues of social justice, human rights and war and peace. This originally appeared at CommonDreams and is reprinted with the author’s permission.