Violating the Law To Provide War Aid to Israel

In March, I wrote about eight United States Senate members sending a letter to President Joe Biden declaring that Section 6201 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 requires the termination of offensive military aid to the Israel government because the Israel government “prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance.” This declaration seemed then and continues to seem now true to observers of the situation where Gazans suffer from the deprivation of daily needs including food and medical supplies as they also suffer from bombs and bullets. Still, the US military aid flow to Israel has continued at a high rate.

To overcome the legal objection presented by these senators and others, the US Department of State asserted in a May 10 report that “We do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance.” Ta-da: legality.

That dishonest State Department assertion enabled the Biden administration to take action prohibited under US law. And, because of the die-hard pro-Israel bent of congressional leadership, the ruse was sure not to be met with effective legislative answer.

Important new information concerning the State Department’s assertion is provided in a Tuesday ProPublica article by Brett Murphy. Looking at internal communications in the State Department, Murphy recounted how the State Department’s assertion not only flew in the face of what people could readily observe in regard to Israel’s actions to suppress aid reaching Gazans, it also was outright contradicted by two State Department organizations that were charged with assessing the situation.

Murphy wrote that prior to the State Department issuing its May 10 report, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) had sent Secretary of State Antony Blinken “a detailed 17-page memo on Israel’s conduct” that “described instances of Israeli interference with aid efforts, including killing aid workers, razing agricultural structures, bombing ambulances and hospitals, sitting on supply depots and routinely turning away trucks full of food and medicine.” Also, related Murphy, “Separately, the head of the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration had also determined that Israel was blocking humanitarian aid and that the Foreign Assistance Act should be triggered to freeze almost $830 million in taxpayer dollars earmarked for weapons and bombs to Israel, according to emails obtained by ProPublica.”

Let this serve as an important reminder: Always be skeptical of the declarations of politicians and bureaucrats. This is especially so when those declarations advance intervention abroad.

Reprinted from the Ron Paul Institute.

Adam Dick worked from 2003 through 2013 as a legislative aide for Rep. Ron Paul. Previously, he was a member of the Wisconsin State Board of Elections, a co-manager of Ed Thompson’s 2002 Wisconsin governor campaign, and a lawyer in New York and Connecticut.

14 thoughts on “Violating the Law To Provide War Aid to Israel”

  1. The USA would have to replace more than 99% of the government to get politicians that do not kowtow to Israel. Politicians like Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Lindsay Graham etc should be charged with treason.

    1. What other crimes should they be falsely charged with?

      Joe Biden was two years old, and Lindsay Graham and Kamala Harris weren't yet born, the last time it was legally possible to commit treason.

      1. They have more loyalty to Israel than the USA thanks to AIPAC and other Zionist Groups.
        You said Biden was two years old and it was before Lindsay Graham and Kamala Harris were born. The USA has been taking more care of Israel than its own people since 1948. Israel's military and economy are funded by the USA and the people there have better healthcare than most people get in the USA.

        1. In the US, the crime of treason can only be committed when the US is at war.

          The US has not, in any legal sense, been at war at any point since 1945.

          There hasn’t been a treason prosecution since World War Two that wasn’t for actions taken DURING World War Two. Just like if all the banks disappeared today, there wouldn’t be any more prosecutions for bank robbery.

    2. Promote people for political office who aren't Israel-Firsters. Then vote for those people.

      And Tha Knappster is correct – Treason, like Espionage, carries a very specific legal definition. What you'd be after is a new statute, like a "Conduct Unbecoming An Elected Official", whose codified definition includes lobbying or working to the interests of other States, aka Israel-Firsting or NATO-cheerleading.

  2. Also violating law to take Russian funds. Without a declaration of war, such taking is against the 4th and 5th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

  3. Talk about Dissociative Identity Disorder personlity .

    "The United States on Monday will announce nearly $336 million in additional humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, according to a U.S. Agency for International Development statement seen by Reuters.
    The funding, first reported by Reuters, will enable USAID's partners to continue to provide humanitarian aid, including food assistance, healthcare, nutrition and other services, according to the statement."

  4. Violating the Law, America has gone far beyond violating the law, we are committing CRIMES against HUMANITY! America has become reincarnate of Nazi Germany, working with the Terrorist State of Israel to DECIMATE the Semitic People of Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, etc. Biden/Harris/Blinken/Austin/Members of Congress, have all committed WAR CRIMES. They need to be held responsible!

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