Proposed legislation from a prominent Democratic senator would ban US assistance to Israel from being used to apply sovereignty over parts of Judea and Samaria, JTA reported on Tuesday.
The amendment to a funding bill introduced last week by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), a member of the foreign operations subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, would not allow aid used to “deploy or support the deployment of United States defense articles, services or training to territories in the West Bank unilaterally annexed by Israel after July 1, 2020, or to facilitate the unilateral annexation of such territories.”
Other notable members of the Democratic caucus sponsoring the amendment include former presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, noted JTA.
AIPAC is vigorously opposing the amendment.
“It’s dangerous to weaken Israel’s defenses, especially as it faces unprecedented threats,” the Israel lobby wrote Monday in a message to its activists. “An amendment in the Senate restricts where Israel can place lifesaving missile defense systems like Iron Dome.”
Van Hollen in an online conversation last week with J Street said he was considering such an amendment as a means of expressing displeasure with plans by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to apply sovereignty over parts of Judea and Samaria while not touching Israel’s overall defense assistance, which amounts to $3.8 billion a year.
Democrats have been vocal in their opposition to Israel’s plan to apply sovereignty over parts of Judea and Samaria.
Just last week, four House Democrats, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib, wrote to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo calling on the United States to cut assistance to Israel should it proceed to apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.
Last month, a group of Democratic Senators, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), issued a statement in which they expressed their opposition to the sovereignty move.
The senators noted that direct negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians are “the only path for a durable peace.” They warned that annexation “could undermine regional stability and broader US national security interests in the region.”
Previously, 19 Senate Democrats sent a letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Alternate Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benny Gantz in which they warn against an Israeli move to apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.
