US Democrat Nancy Pelosi calls for an end to arms sales to Israel

War in the Middle East
Old allies are moving away from Israel: US Democrat Nancy Pelosi calls for an end to arms deliveries

After the UN Human Rights Council, the influential US Democrat Nancy Pelosi is now calling for a stop to arms deliveries Israel. The former speaker of the House of Representatives and an important ally of US President Joe Biden has signed a corresponding letter together with 36 other Democrats from Congress to the US President and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“In light of the recent attack on aid workers and the ever-worsening humanitarian crisis, we believe it is unjustified to authorize these arms transfers,” the document said.

USA delivers bombs and fighter jet to Israel

The United States is Israel’s largest military supporter. It was only at the end of March that the government in Washington approved arms deliveries worth several billion US dollars. According to the Washington Post, these include more than 2,000 free-fall bombs and 25 fighter jets. Without help from the United States, Israel would not be able to wage its war in Gaza as it currently does.

An estimated 33,000 Palestinians have died in the Gaza Strip since the war began in October 2023. Most recently, seven employees of the US aid organization World Central Kitchen died in an Israeli airstrike on an aid convoy. The Israeli army said it had targeted an “armed Hamas fighter” in the attack, but also acknowledged a number of “serious mistakes.”

The war was triggered by the Islamist Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, in which, according to Israeli figures, around 1,170 people were killed and around 250 others were kidnapped as hostages in the Gaza Strip. Since then, Israel has been taking massive military action in the Gaza Strip – after initial support for the operation, criticism is also growing among Israel’s close allies.

Joe Biden even called on Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to stop arms deliveries if Israel continued to not allow aid deliveries to the Palestinian population – which is now happening again via two Israeli ports.

Another US Democrat criticizes Netanyahu

Unusually harsh criticism of Netanyahu’s conduct of the war also comes from the influential Democratic majority leader in the US Senate, Chuck Schumer. He had called for new elections in Israel. Schumer, himself Jewish, said he believes Netanyahu has lost his way by putting his political survival above Israel’s best interests. New elections are the only way to enable a healthy and open decision-making process about Israel’s future. Netanyahu reacts angrily to the demands from Washington.

There are also attempts in Germany to stop military support for Israel. To this end, German lawyers have submitted an urgent application to the Berlin Administrative Court on behalf of Gaza Palestinians – this is intended to stop the federal government’s arms export permits.

The applicants justified their action against the federal government by saying that there was reason to believe that the weapons would be used for violations of international law such as genocide and war crimes. However, the government must protect their right to life.

Anti-tank weapons for Israel

Last year, the federal government approved arms exports worth 326.5 million euros to Israel – most of them after the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023. These included 3,000 portable anti-tank weapons and 500,000 rounds of ammunition for machine guns, submachine guns or other weapons – or semi-automatic firearms.

A justice spokesman said it was still unclear when the court would decide on the proceedings.

Sources: DPA, AFP, Zeit.deReuters

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