[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 96 (Wednesday, June 5, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3997-S3998]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 ISRAEL

  Mr. WELCH. Madam President, last Friday, President Biden announced 
the elements of a proposed plan for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza. If 
accepted by both Israel and Hamas, the plan would prevent many more 
months of death and destruction, it would save countless lives, free 
the hostages, and offer a way forward to lasting peace between Israelis 
and Palestinians.
  In order for the plan to succeed, the President will need to use the 
leverage that only he has as President, that leverage with Israel, with 
Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, and others.
  I believe it will also require a very decisive change in our own 
policy. After 8 months of relentless bombing and shelling, the United 
States should stop--should stop--supporting a war strategy that has not 
only caused massive death and destruction but has failed to achieve 
either of Prime Minister Netanyahu's key objectives: total victory over 
Hamas and release of the remaining hostages.
  Instead, 8 months into this war, Gaza is in ruins, tens of thousands 
of Palestinians have been killed and many more have been injured, 
including thousands of women and children. Some 100 hostages remain 
trapped underground. They are subjected to daily abuse by their captors 
while bombs explode above them with no idea if they will live to see 
the light of day.
  And on May 26, Israeli Defense Forces--using munitions provided by 
the United States--attacked a camp of displaced Palestinians in Rafah, 
where the Israeli military had ordered them to relocate to avoid 
bombing in the north. The attack incinerated 45 people and injured many 
more. Mr. Netanyahu called it a tragic mistake. In reality, it was the 
gruesome result of an ill-conceived, scorched-earth campaign that has 
gone on for far too long.
  For years, Mr. Netanyahu used Hamas as an asset in his very cynical 
strategy to ensure the Palestinian Authority could not become an 
effective partner for peace. He steadily expanded Israeli settlements, 
roads, and other infrastructure in the West Bank to create conditions 
on the ground to undermine the viability of a Palestinian State.
  His policies fueled hatred and violence among Israelis and 
Palestinians. Yet throughout those years, the United States has 
supported his government unconditionally.
  The Israeli and Palestinian people are now paying the price for these 
failed policies. Today, over a million Palestinians in Gaza are 
suffering from acute hunger. Children are starving. The wounded are 
dying from lack of medical care. Children with life-threatening 
injuries cannot leave Gaza to obtain the surgery that they need in 
other countries. Hundreds of trucks carrying food, medicines, and other 
aid have been stalled in Egypt. And the sea pier constructed by our 
Department of Defense, using hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, 
is in pieces.
  Despite intensifying criticism around the world, Mr. Netanyahu has 
responded to his many critics--including Israeli citizens--with 
reckless defiance.
  The time will come when the war ends. President Biden announced a 
plan to achieve through diplomacy what military force has failed to 
achieve. But whenever that time comes, Gaza will be uninhabitable. Two 
million Palestinians will be dependent on international aid for years 
to come.
  Rather than bringing security and peace to the Middle East, I fear 
that the legacies of this war could be the opposite: more hatred, 
regardless of what is left of Hamas, more acts of violence against 
Israelis and Americans.

[[Page S3998]]

  Last week, Secretary Blinken said Israel must decide if its military 
actions are worth the cost in civilian lives. I agree.
  (Ms. Cortez Masto assumed the Chair.)
  But the United States, not just Israel, must answer this question, 
too: Is Israel's use of our planes, our tanks, our bombs, our 
ammunition worth the cost in civilian lives?
  Is it worth the risk of creating a new generation of terrorists, 
victims of bombing and shelling who saw their parents, siblings, and 
friends die, their homes destroyed?
  Is it worth the lives of the hostages?
  I believe the answer is no.
  The United States must stop providing offensive weapons and munitions 
to a polarizing foreign leader who treats billions of dollars in 
military aid from American taxpayers as an entitlement while he ignores 
the appeals of the American officials to stop bombing, shooting, and 
denying aid to Palestinian civilians.
  The United States should stop providing offensive weapons and 
munitions to a foreign leader who promotes policies that are 
diametrically against U.S. national interests and, by doing so, sets 
back progress for Middle East peace and puts American lives at risk.
  The United States should stop supporting a war strategy that has 
repeated some of our own worst mistakes in Afghanistan and Iraq.
  The United States also should defend the Geneva Conventions and the 
international tribunals, including the International Criminal Court. 
Some here have denounced the chief prosecutor for bringing charges 
against Prime Minister Netanyahu. There is no equivalence between 
Israel and Hamas to be sure. But there are credible allegations of 
violations of the laws of war in Gaza. Attacking the Court plays into 
the hands of war criminals like Vladimir Putin and weakens our own 
credibility and the Court's legitimacy.
  It undermines the universal principle that no one and no government 
is above the law, a cardinal principle that the United States should 
strongly defend.
  The perpetrators of the October 7 massacre must be brought to 
justice. Such horrendous crimes must not go unpunished. But destroying 
Rafah is not going to finish off Hamas. It is not going to save the 
hostages. It may doom them.
  President Biden has outlined a credible plan for peace. While Israel 
and Hamas will ultimately decide when this war ends, we, the United 
States, can decide when it ends for us. Secretary Blinken asked the 
right question, which should have been asked months ago.
  The right answer is no. Israel's bombardment of Gaza is not worth the 
cost in civilians lives, and we should stop supporting it.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Baldwin). The Senator from New Jersey.

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