Democrats threaten to drop US aid to Israel over annexation
The freshman congresswomen in the U.S. House of Representatives who have been pushing their anti-Israel agenda in Congress are now calling on the United States to cut off aid to Israel should the Jewish state go through with annexing land in the West Bank.
Radical socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Michigan’s anti-Semitic Rashida Tlaib, who is of Palestinian descent, addressed the letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“Should the Israeli government move forward with the planned annexation with this administration’s acquiescence, we will work to ensure non-recognition as well as pursue conditions on the $3.8 billion in U.S. military funding to Israel, including human rights conditions and withholding funds for the off-shore procurement of Israeli weapons equal to or exceeding the amount the Israeli government spends annually to fund settlements, as well as the policies and practices that sustain and enable them,” they wrote.
Cortez and Tlaib were joined by Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Betty McCollum of Minnesota. They are hoping for other Democrat signatures from the House. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, a Jewish Democrat from Vermont, signed it as well.
As we reported last week, 191 of 233 Democrats in the House signed a letter warning Israel that annexation could endanger prospects for peace. The letter from Cortez and Tlaib, however, takes it a step further, threatening to cut off aid to America’s sole ally in the Middle East.
AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee), America’s largest pro-Israel lobby, fired back saying the letter “explicitly threatens the U.S.-Israel relationship in ways that would damage American interests, risk the security of Israel and make a two-state solution less likely.”
“The U.S.-Israel relationship is a mutually beneficial partnership that reinforces our moral values and strategic interests. The overwhelming majority of Democrats and Republicans, in Congress and across the country, agree that America is best served when we stand with Israel,” AIPAC said in a statement.
Despite the efforts of these congresswomen, who have been called out multiple times for their anti-Israel and anti-Semitic comments, relations between Israel and the United States have never been better than they are under President Donald Trump. Trump moved the American embassy to Jerusalem and recognized the city as Israel’s capital.
