The stakes are high for all parties taking sides in the Hamas-Israel conflict. The members of Vermont’s congressional delegation have certainly been leaning in a direction of a cease-fire and an end to the bloodshed for good. Israel has said it will not stop. And now the U.S. pledge to maintain support through aid is feeling messy. So messy, in fact, that those individuals taking a firm stance are more than likely alienating members of their base. U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, who is Jewish, has been pushing for a peaceful solution as well as condemning acts of antisemitism that have arisen as a result of the heated conflict. In the U.S. Senate, Peter Welch has been urging a cease-fire and peace talks. Bernie Sanders has taken the fight to a different level — one that may cost him votes in the future. Sanders is Jewish and spent time in Israel as a young man. He has drawn criticism from some of his former supporters for not calling for a cease-fire in the conflict. Sanders said recently that he wants a humanitarian end to the conflict. First, he urged conditions on any aid provided to Israel. In a commentary in the New York Times three weeks ago, when the issue was coming to a head, Sanders concluded by writing, “Over the years, people of good will around the world, including Israelis, have tried to address this conflict in a way that brings justice for Palestinians and security for Israel. I, and some other members of Congress, have tried to do what we could. Obviously, we did not do enough. Now we must recommit to this effort. The stakes are just too high to give up.” Then Sanders called for President Biden to cut proposed aid to Israel by $10.1 billion in a letter that called the Israeli military’s actions in Gaza a “mass atrocity” that the United States is complicit in. “Israel’s military campaign will be remembered among some of the darkest chapters of our modern history,” Sanders wrote in his letter. “And it is being done with bombs and equipment produced and provided by the United States and heavily subsidized by American taxpayers. Tragically, we are complicit in this carnage.” Sanders also asked Biden to support the humanitarian cease-fire resolution the United States recently vetoed in a meeting of the U.N. Security Council. “Long-term, I don’t know how you can have a permanent cease-fire when Hamas has made it very clear that that’s not what they want or believe in,” Sanders said. “And at the same time you have Netanyahu and his right-wing government wanting to continue the war. So I think it raises false hopes.” Then, when the aid vote came, Sanders was the lone member of the Senate Democratic caucus to oppose advancing a $10.5 billion supplemental foreign aid measure on, expressing opposition to the bill’s unconditional military assistance for the Israeli government. “I voted NO on the foreign aid supplemental bill today for one reason,” he said in a statement. “I do not believe that we should give the right-wing extremist Netanyahu government an additional $10.1 billion with no strings attached to continue their inhumane war against the Palestinian people.” “Israel has the absolute right to defend itself against the Hamas terrorists who attacked them on October 7,” Sanders added. “They do not have the legal or moral right to kill thousands of innocent Palestinian men, women and children.” This week, Sanders introduced a resolution in Congress to investigate Israel’s “indiscriminate bombing campaign in Gaza.” His stance has infuriated some of his former supporters and allies. But Sanders wants accountability. According to his statement, the resolution was introduced a resolution under Section 502B© of the Foreign Assistance Act “to force a debate on the indiscriminate bombing being carried out by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government.” Sanders points out that the Foreign Assistance Act prohibits security assistance to any government “which engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.” Section 502B© of this law allows Congress to request information on a country’s human rights practices — such requests are privileged, allowing the sponsor to force a floor vote on the requesting resolution. If the resolution passes, the Department of State must submit the requested report within 30 days, or all security assistance to the country in question is cut off. After the report is received, Congress may then enact changes to condition, reduce, or terminate the security assistance in question. Both the initial vote to request the information and any subsequent votes to alter security assistance are privileged and require a simple majority for passage, according to the statement. “The scale of the suffering in Gaza is unimaginable — it will be remembered among some of the darkest chapters of our modern history. This is a humanitarian cataclysm, and it is being done with American bombs and money. We need to face up to that fact — and then we need to end our complicity in those actions,” Sanders said. With no end to the conflict in sight, Sanders may just be posturing for the sake of posturing. History will look back on this time, indeed. It likely will assign blame on many nations, including us. It will also will reveal the carnage of sacrifice — in body counts and politics.
The stakes are high for all parties taking sides in the Hamas-Israel conflict. The members of Vermont’s congressional delegation have certainly been leaning in a direction of a cease-fire and an end to the bloodshed for good.
