Israel’s ambassador to the United States sent a stinging letter to nearly 90 lawmakers Wednesday, blasting them for accusing Israel of purposefully withholding humanitarian aid from Gaza’s 2.2 million Palestinians.
Eighty-eight House Democrats wrote to President Joe Biden last week, arguing that Israel had kept food, water, medicine and other provisions from reaching Palestinians in need. That would violate a law prohibiting the delivery of security assistance to a country that restricts humanitarian aid, calling into question commitments Israel gave the U.S. that it would not violate human rights with U.S.-provided weapons. As a result, the Biden administration should at least think twice before delivering more offensive arms to Israel, the lawmakers recommended.
Michael Herzog, Israel’s envoy in Washington, sent an identical letter to all 88 representatives to convey his disappointment in their position.
“At no point during the war has Israel had a policy of deliberately withholding humanitarian aid from entering Gaza,” he wrote in the message to lawmakers that POLITICO obtained. “There are no arbitrary restrictions on the flow of humanitarian goods into Gaza.”
Israel merely inspects trucks carrying goods to ensure they’re not transporting weapons or explosives, Herzog continued, adding that “there are today four humanitarian crossings from Israel to Gaza, including three to northern Gaza.”
Importantly, Herzog didn’t address how Israel shuttered crossings into Gaza at the start of the war or why it took sustained American pressure to get some of the checkpoints reopened. Israeli forces that entered Rafah this week temporarily closed the city’s crossing with Egypt and also the Kerem Shalom crossing, though the Israeli military says that one reopened on Wednesday. Aid organizations continue to complain that more aid should get into the territory — and that Israeli restrictions are often a reason why it doesn’t.
Herzog’s letter comes as the Biden administration is expected to make a determination on whether Israel violated U.S. and international humanitarian law, which could lead to the U.S. halting military assistance to Israel. That report, originally slated to be released Wednesday, has been briefly delayed.
Senior U.S. officials, but none in the White House, now say Gaza is suffering a famine brought on by the war and lack of assistance making its way into the enclave.
The ambassador concludes his letter by insisting the lawmakers should not jeopardize more American weapons deliveries to Israel, suggesting that doing so plays into Hamas’ hands. “Denying Israel the weapons it needs to defeat Hamas and creating daylight between our countries on the basis of unsubstantiated claims may serve to embolden Hamas and fuel its perception that time is on its side.”
The letter is another data point showcasing the growing break between Democrats and Israel.
Criticism of Israel has normally come from progressive circles, but centrist Democrats have lately piled on the Middle Eastern ally for how it has conducted the war against Hamas — a war estimated to have killed more than 34,000 people, many of them women and children. Most notably, Biden quietly halted a shipment of bombs to Israel over an impending Rafah invasion last week. But the decision spilled out into the open this week, further fraying ties between the U.S. and Israel.
In private conversations with American counterparts, Israeli officials expressed their “deep frustration” with the weapons delay and that the administration later confirmed leaked media reports about Biden’s move.
Matt Berg contributed to this report.
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