He did not suggest that the Democratic Party will seek conditions on aid for Israel, however.
“On conditions, our caucus is discussing it and will continue to look for the best way forward, but as I’ve said there are four goals we have when it comes to the war: Radically reduce the threat from Hamas, free the hostages, get humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in Gaza who need that help, and Israel should try to reduce the number of civilian casualties,” said Schumer.
Most of the calls to condition the US aid to Israel have come from lawmakers on the far-left progressive side.
Those calls have been headed by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an Independent Senator who caucuses with the Democrats.
Sanders recently called on Congress to reject the $10.1 billion in unconditional military aid being considered for Israel, saying the funds would be used by the Israeli government “to continue its brutal war against the Palestinian people.”
Schumer’s comments come a day after the Senate rejected a resolution, submitted by Sanders, that would have forced an investigation into human rights abuses in the Israel-Hamas war.
The Senate voted 72-11 to table the resolution, effectively killing it.
Had the resolution been approved, it would have required the US State Department to, within 30 days, produce a report on whether the Israeli war effort in Gaza is violating human rights and international accords. If so, US military aid to Israel could be quickly halted.
