[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 66 (Tuesday, April 16, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2781-S2783]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 ISRAEL

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, as most everybody knows, Iran recently 
launched several hundred drones and missiles at Israel. Fortunately, 
there were no fatalities. This attack was Iran's response to an Israeli 
airstrike on their consulate in Damascus, Syria, on April 1--an attack 
which killed seven Iranian officials. I applaud President Biden for 
doing what he can to make sure that this conflict does not get out of 
hand, does not escalate, and does not create what would be a disastrous 
regional war.
  But while we pay attention to this developing Israeli-Iran crisis, I 
hope very much that we will not lose sight of the unprecedented 
humanitarian disaster now taking place in Gaza. We must not lose sight 
of that disaster.
  As I am sure all Americans know, the war in Gaza began on October 7, 
when Hamas, a terrorist organization, invaded Israel, killed some 1,200 
innocent men, women, and children, and took over 230 people into 
captivity, many of whom are still being held.
  It has always been my view that Israel had a right to defend itself, 
respond to this attack, and to go after Hamas. It is also my view that 
Israel does not have the right to go to war against the entire 
Palestinian people, which is exactly what the Netanyahu government is 
doing.
  Let us take a deep breath and understand that what is happening right 
now in Gaza is horrendous, it is inhumane, and it is in gross violation 
of American and international law. It is driven by extreme, rightwing 
Israeli Government officials and a government which is increasingly 
dominated by religious fundamentalists. That is who is driving this 
humanitarian disaster in Gaza.
  What should be most troubling to the American people is that we as 
Americans are complicit because it is U.S. taxpayer dollars that have 
helped create this unprecedented humanitarian disaster.
  Let me briefly describe what is going on in Gaza because it is so 
easy, in a world full of problems--the media focuses on this, focuses 
on that. Congress focuses on this and that. It is so easy to turn away 
from the tragedy in Gaza, but we must not do that.
  There are about 2.2 million people living in Gaza--2.2 million--
mostly poor and struggling people. Before the war--before the war--Gaza 
was a very poor and desperate area. Let us not forget the important 
fact that before the war, some 70 percent of young people in Gaza were 
unemployed. That was before the war.
  Since this war began, over 33,000 Palestinians have been killed and 
77,000 wounded. Unbelievably, 5 percent--5 percent--of the residents of 
Gaza have been either killed or wounded in a 6-month period--5 percent 
of their entire population. Two-thirds of those who have been killed or 
wounded are women and children.
  Since the war began, 1.7 million people--over 75 percent of the 
population of Gaza--have been driven from their homes. Let me repeat 
it. Three-quarters of the population have been driven out of their 
homes. These people--poor, and many of them are children--do not know 
whether they will ever return; pushed out, not knowing where they are 
going to go, where they are going to sleep--three-quarters of the 
people of Gaza.
  Over 60 percent--60 percent--of the housing units in Gaza have been 
damaged or destroyed. This housing destruction is unprecedented in the 
modern history of the world--60 percent of housing units damaged or 
destroyed.
  But it is not just housing. Israel has systematically destroyed the 
healthcare system in Gaza. Gaza had 36 hospitals before the war. Now 
just 11 are partially operational despite the tens of thousands of 
injuries and hundreds of thousands of ill people. Persistent attacks on 
healthcare facilities have killed more than 1,200 workers.
  I have spoken with several American doctors who have returned from 
missions to Gaza. They tell of operating for hours on end in crowded 
hospitals with little electricity or clean water or medical supplies. 
They have had to perform surgeries--including on children--with no 
anesthesia. They have to try to sterilize and reuse medical gauze. 
Thousands of women have had to give birth in these inhumane and 
dangerous conditions, and healthcare workers report a major increase in 
miscarriages. It is a healthcare nightmare.
  But it is not just housing and the healthcare system that are being 
destroyed by the Netanyahu government; it is the physical civilian 
infrastructure in Gaza as well. More than half of the water and 
sanitation systems have been put out of commission. Only one of three 
water pipelines is operating. Clean drinking water is severely limited. 
Sewage, raw sewage, is running through the streets of Gaza, spreading 
disease. As we speak tonight, there is virtually no electricity in 
Gaza.
  But it is not just housing and healthcare and infrastructure that are 
being destroyed. There are 12 universities in Gaza--12 universities. 
Unbelievably, each and every one of them has been either damaged or 
destroyed--universities. In addition, primary and secondary schools 
have also been completely disrupted. Over 600,000 children have no 
access to education.
  As horrible as all of this is, there is something happening now that 
is even worse, and that is what these photographs speak to. Hundreds of 
thousands of Palestinian children face starvation. The people of Gaza 
are struggling to survive from day to day, foraging for leaves, eating 
animal feed, or splitting the occasional aid packages amongst their 
family. Even in Rafah, where aid is consistently distributed, people 
are desperately short of basic supplies, including food and water. In 
the north, the situation is far more desperate. At least 28 children 
have died of malnutrition and dehydration already--28 children--but the 
real toll is likely much, much higher.

  Without food and clean water, with sanitation systems destroyed, and 
with little healthcare available, hundreds of thousands of people in 
Gaza are at severe risk of dehydration, infection, and easily 
preventable diseases.
  Let me repeat once again. As we speak, hundreds of thousands of 
children are at risk of terrible deaths.
  Let us be very clear. The conditions that the people in Gaza are 
experiencing today are the direct result of Israel's arbitrary 
restrictions on the aid getting into Gaza. This is not a matter of 
debate; it is an obvious reality that numerous--numerous--humanitarian 
organizations have repeatedly confirmed.
  Israeli leaders themselves admit it. At the start of this war, the 
Israeli Defense Minister declared a total siege, saying:

       We are fighting human animals, and we are acting 
     accordingly. . . . There will be no electricity, no food, no 
     fuel, everything is closed.

  In January, Prime Minister Netanyahu said openly that Israel is only 
allowing in the absolute minimum amount of aid necessary.
  Tragically, the Israeli Government has lived up to those words. For 
months, thousands of trucks carrying lifesaving supplies have sat just 
miles away from starving children, prevented from reaching their 
destination by unreasonable Israeli restrictions and a military 
campaign conducted with little regard for civilian life. Trucks with 
food a few miles away from children who are starving--Israel is 
stopping those trucks.
  The world saw evidence of that several weeks ago when seven aid 
workers

[[Page S2782]]

with World Central Kitchen were killed in an Israeli airstrike. But 
such attacks have been frequent, and Israel has killed more than 200 
humanitarian aid workers in 6 months--not just the World Central 
Kitchen; 200 humanitarian aid workers since this war began.
  Israel's blockade of humanitarian aid pushed the United States and 
the international community to extreme measures, including airdropping 
supplies and the construction of a port, in order to get food to 
starving people. That was our appropriate response.
  Blocking desperately needed U.S. humanitarian aid is obscene, and it 
is unacceptable. It is also a violation of American law. The Foreign 
Assistance Act is extremely clear: No U.S. assistance may be provided 
to any country that ``prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or 
indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian 
assistance.'' That is precisely what Israel is doing, and Israel is 
clearly in violation of the law.
  Following a tense, as I understand it, call between President Biden 
and Prime Minister Netanyahu 2 weeks ago, Israel committed to a number 
of steps to improve humanitarian conditions and aid access. These 
commitments include opening additional border crossings, increasing the 
number of trucks cleared for entry into Gaza, improving aid 
distribution within Gaza, and reopening some bakeries and a water 
pipeline to supply northern Gaza.
  Two weeks later, where are we? Well, there has been a slight 
improvement in the volume of aid getting into Gaza. Since the beginning 
of April, an average of 181 aid trucks have crossed into Gaza per 
day. This is marginally higher than was the case over the last several 
months but far fewer than the 500 trucks per day that went into Gaza 
before the war and before the devastation of civilian life there.

  Unbelievably, Israel continues to block many aid convoys from 
reaching those areas in Gaza that are most desperate. This morning, I 
spoke with a humanitarian aid worker who was in Gaza just last week, 
and he reported to me that humanitarian organizations continue--
continue--to face arbitrary Israeli restrictions.
  Since the U.N. warned of imminent famine in early February, more than 
40 percent of all food missions have been denied. Children are 
starving. More than 40 percent of food missions have been denied. Last 
week again, the U.N. reported that 40 percent of aid convoys to north 
Gaza were denied access.
  Israel's violations of international law are not limited to Gaza. 
They are also breaking the law in the West Bank. Over the weekend, in 
response to the tragic death of an Israeli teenager, large groups of 
armed Israeli settlers rampaged through 17 Palestinian villages over 3 
days. These vigilantes shot dozens of people, killing four, and burned 
numerous homes. Videos taken by human rights groups show Israeli 
soldiers watching attacks unfold and doing nothing to stop them. To the 
best of my knowledge, no arrests have been announced as a result of 
these attacks.
  While this was a particularly violent weekend, this is a daily 
occurrence for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Israeli soldiers 
and settlers have now killed more than 460 Palestinians in the West 
Bank since October 7, including more than 100 children. That is the 
West Bank.
  What Israel is doing today in Gaza and the West Bank is a defining 
moment for Americans because we are deeply complicit in everything that 
is happening. This is not some far-off situation that we have nothing 
to do with. We are directly complicit. Now, the U.S. military is not 
dropping 2,000-pound bombs on civilian apartment buildings. That is not 
what the U.S. military is doing. But we are supplying those bombs to 
the Israeli Air Force. The United States is not blocking the borders 
and preventing food, water, and medical supplies from getting to 
desperate people. That is not what we are doing. But we have supplied 
billions of dollars to the Netanyahu government, which is doing just 
that. The United States is not annexing occupied Palestinian land, but 
it is providing political protection for the Israeli Government as it 
does so.
  Despite the massive financial and military support the United States 
has provided to Israel for many years, the rightwing, extremist 
government of Netanyahu has ignored increasingly urgent calls from the 
United States to end the humanitarian disaster in Gaza, to stop 
settlement expansion in the West Bank, and to lay out initial steps 
toward a two-state solution.
  Members of Congress may not know it. We live in a somewhat different 
world. But the American people have had enough. The American people are 
increasingly fed up with Netanyahu's war against Palestinians, and they 
do not want to see their taxpayer dollars spent to support the 
slaughter of innocent civilians and the starvation of children. That is 
not Bernie Sanders speaking. That is what the American people are 
saying. A recent Gallup poll showed that just 36 percent of Americans 
approve of Israel's military action, with 55 percent disapproving. A 
Quinnipiac poll showed that U.S. voters oppose sending more military 
aid to Israel by 52 percent to 39 percent. An earlier YouGov poll also 
showed that 52 percent of Americans said that the United States should 
halt weapons shipments to Israel until it stops its attacks in Gaza.
  That is what the American people are saying. And maybe, just maybe, 
the Congress might want to listen to the American people rather than 
powerful special interests.
  The New York Times is what I would describe as a pillar of the 
establishment. This is not a fringe organization. This is the 
establishment. And the New York Times, just this Sunday, had an 
editorial entitled ``Military Aid to Israel Cannot Be Unconditional.'' 
I would like to read a few paragraphs and then ask unanimous consent 
that the whole editorial be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                [From the New York Times, Apr. 13, 2024]

             Military Aid to Israel Cannot Be Unconditional

                        (By the Editorial Board)

       The suffering of civilians in Gaza--tens of thousands dead, 
     many of them children; hundreds of thousands homeless, many 
     at risk of starvation--has become more than a growing number 
     of Americans can abide. And yet Prime Minister Benjamin 
     Netanyahu of Israel and his ultranationalist allies in 
     government have defied American calls for more restraint and 
     humanitarian help.
       The United States commitment to Israel--including $3.8 
     billion a year in military aid, the largest outlay of 
     American foreign aid to any one country in the world--is a 
     reflection of the exceptionally close and enduring 
     relationship between the two countries. A bond of trust, 
     however, must prevail between donors and recipients of lethal 
     arms from the United States, which supplies arms according to 
     formal conditions that reflect American values and the 
     obligations of international law.
       Mr. Netanyahu and the hard-liners in his government have 
     broken that bond, and until it is restored, America cannot 
     continue, as it has, to supply Israel with the arms it has 
     been using in its war against Hamas.
       The question is not whether Israel has the right to defend 
     itself against an enemy sworn to its destruction. It does. 
     The Hamas attack of Oct. 7 was an atrocity no nation could 
     leave unanswered, and by hiding behind civilian fronts, Hamas 
     violates international law and bears a major share of 
     responsibility for the suffering inflicted on the people in 
     whose name it purports to act. In the immediate aftermath of 
     that attack, President Biden rushed to demonstrate America's 
     full sympathy and support in Israel's agony. That was the 
     right thing to do.
       It is also not a question whether the United States should 
     continue to help Israel defend itself. America's commitments 
     to Israel's defense are long term, substantial, mutually 
     beneficial and essential. No president or Congress should 
     deny the only state on earth with a Jewish majority the means 
     to ensure its survival. Nor should Americans ever lose sight 
     of the threat that Hamas, a terrorist organization, poses to 
     the security of the region and to any hope of peace between 
     Palestinians and Israelis.
       But that does not mean the president should allow Mr. 
     Netanyahu to keep playing his cynical double games. The 
     Israeli leader is fighting for his political survival against 
     growing anger from his electorate. He knows that, should he 
     leave office, he will risk going on trial for serious charges 
     of corruption. He has, until recently, resisted diplomatic 
     efforts for a cease-fire that might have led to a release of 
     hostages still in the custody of Hamas. He has used American 
     armaments to go after Hamas but has been deaf to repeated 
     demands from Mr. Biden and his national security team to do 
     more to protect civilians in Gaza from being harmed by those 
     armaments. Even worse, Mr. Netanyahu has turned defiance of 
     America's leadership into a political tool, indulging and 
     encouraging

[[Page S2783]]

     the hard-liners in his cabinet, who pledge to reoccupy Gaza 
     and reject any notion of a Palestinian state--exactly the 
     opposite of U.S. policy.
       Thanks in part to the bombs and other heavy weapons 
     supplied by the United States, the Israel military now faces 
     little armed resistance in most of Gaza. But Mr. Netanyahu 
     has ignored his obligations to provide food and medicine to 
     the civilian population in the territory that Israel now 
     controls. In fact, Israel has made it difficult for anyone 
     else to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza. The United States 
     has had to take extraordinary steps, including airdrops and 
     building a pier, to overcome Israeli obstacles to providing 
     humanitarian aid. Last week's attack on a World Central 
     Kitchen convoy in Gaza, which killed seven aid workers and 
     which Israel acknowledged was a mistake, underscores the 
     enormous danger facing the international aid agencies that 
     are stepping in to help.
       This cannot continue.
       Israel recently announce a pullback of troops from southern 
     Gaza. But this is neither a formal cease-fire nor and end to 
     the war, and it is incumbent on the Biden administration to 
     persevere in its efforts to help end the fighting, free the 
     hostages and protect Palestinian civilians.
       A growing number of senators, led by Chris Van Hollen, 
     Democrat of Maryland, have been urging Mr. Biden to consider 
     pausing military transfers to Israel, which the executive 
     branch can do without congressional approval. They were right 
     to push for this action.
       Last week, Representative Nancy Pelosi was among 40 House 
     Democrats to sign a letter to the president and the secretary 
     of state urging them to ensure that military assistance to 
     Israel is in compliance with U.S. and international law. The 
     mechanism to do that is already in place. In February, Mr. 
     Biden signed a national security memorandum (NSM-20) that 
     directed the secretary of state to obtain ``credible and 
     reliable'' written assurances from recipients of American 
     weapons that those weapons would be used in accordance with 
     international law and that recipients would not impede the 
     delivery of American assistance. Failure to fulfill those 
     measures could lead to suspension of further arms transfers.
       NSM-20 did not break ground. Many of its requirements are 
     already law under the Foreign Assistance Act and other 
     measures, and they apply to armaments supplied to other 
     countries, including Ukraine. NSM-20 specifically excludes 
     air defense systems and others used for strictly defensive 
     purposes, but that still leaves many offensive weapons whose 
     delivery the United States could pause. But NSM-20 is 
     notable. It affirms the president's authority to use military 
     aid as a lever in ensuring the nation's weapons are used 
     responsibly.
       The administration has tried many forms of pressure and 
     admonition, including public statements, reported expressions 
     of frustration and U.N. Security Council resolutions. None of 
     them, so far, have proved effective with Mr. Netanyahu. 
     Military aid is the one lever Mr. Biden has been reluctant to 
     use, but it is a significant one he has at his disposal--
     perhaps the last one--to persuade Israel to open the way for 
     urgent assistance to Gaza.
       Pausing the flow of weapons to Israel would not be an easy 
     step for Mr. Biden to take; his devotion and commitment to 
     the Jewish state go back decades. But the war in Gaza has 
     taken an enormous toll in human lives, with a cease-fire 
     still out of reach and many hostages still held captive. The 
     eroding international support for its military campaign has 
     made Israel more insecure. Confronted with that suffering, 
     the United States cannot remain beholden to an Israeli leader 
     fixated on his own survival and the approval of the zealots 
     he harbors.
       The United States has had Israel's back, diplomatically and 
     militarily, through decades of wars and crises. Alliances are 
     not one-way relationships, and most Israelis, including 
     Israel's senior military commanders, are aware of that. Yet 
     Mr. Netanyahu has turned his back on America and its 
     entreaties, creating a crisis in U.S.-Israeli relations when 
     Israel's security, and the stability of the entire region, is 
     at stake.

  Mr. SANDERS. This is what the New York Times says:

       The administration--

  Biden administration--

     has tried many forms of pressure and admonition, including 
     public statements, reported expressions of frustration and 
     U.N. Security Council resolutions. None of them, so far, have 
     proved effective with Mr. Netanyahu. Military aid is the one 
     lever Mr. Biden has been reluctant to use, but it is a 
     significant one he has at his disposal--perhaps the last 
     one--to persuade Israel to open the way for urgent assistance 
     to Gaza.
       Pausing the flow of weapons to Israel would not be an easy 
     step for Mr. Biden to take; his devotion and commitment to 
     the Jewish state go back decades. But the war in Gaza has 
     taken an enormous toll in human lives, with a cease-fire 
     still out of reach and many hostages still held captive. The 
     eroding international support for its military campaign has 
     made Israel more insecure. Confronted with that suffering, 
     the United States cannot remain beholden to an Israeli leader 
     fixated on his own survival and the approval of the zealots 
     he harbors.

  New York Times, last Sunday.
  Mr. President, the United States has offered Israel unconditional 
financial support for a very, very long time. In recent years, that has 
amounted to $3.8 billion a year, with numerous additional forms of 
support. Right now, against my vote, Congress is considering another 
$14 billion in military aid for Israel, $10 billion of which is 
completely unrestricted military funding.
  That unconditional support for the Israeli military must end. Instead 
of begging Netanyahu's extremist government to protect innocent lives 
and obey U.S. and international law, our new position must be simple 
and straightforward: Not another nickel for the Netanyahu government if 
their present policies continue.
  The United States must use all of its leverage to secure an immediate 
cease-fire in Gaza and across the region and demand that the massive 
amount of humanitarian assistance that is needed to prevent famine and 
widespread humanitarian suffering is able to flow into Gaza.
  Mr. President, history will judge what we do right now. History will 
judge whether we stand with starving children, whether we uphold 
America's professed values, or whether we continue to blindly finance 
the Netanyahu war machine.
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________