On the Senate floor on Dec. 4, Bernie Sanders (I-VT) came out against giving $10 billion in military aid to Israel with no strings attached. “I do not believe we should be appropriating over $10 billion for the right-wing extremist Netanyahu government to continue its current military approach,” said Sanders during a speech on the Senate floor on Dec. 4. “What the Netanyahu government is doing is immoral, it is in violation of international law, and the United States should not be complicit in those actions.”
Sanders—whose sudden bout of morality is more a reflection of the citizens’ pressure he is under than anything innate—said it is appropriate for the United States to support defense systems, like the Iron Dome, to protect Israeli citizens from incoming rocket attacks. “But I believe that it would be irresponsible for us to provide an additional $10.1 billion in unconditional military aid that will allow the Netanyahu government to continue its current offensive military approach,” he said. Sanders said Israel’s “indiscriminate approach” is “in my view, offensive to most Americans,” saying he urges Israel to dramatically change its approach to the war against Hamas.
Over on the House side, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), a member of the Armed Services Committee and an Iraq War veteran, told CNN’s Erin Burnett that he disagreed with the assessment of Israel Defense Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus that two civilians killed in Gaza for every dead Hamas militant is a “tremendously positive” ratio. “No, I think it’s dead wrong,” Moulton said. Moulton cited a study commissioned by retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, which said for every civilian killed, about 10 terrorists are recruited. “By that number, Israel so far killed about 5,000 Hamas terrorists but in the process they’ve recruited about 100,000 new adherents. And this is bad news for Israel,” Moutlon said.
The congressman added that in a poll conducted just before Oct. 7, some 6 out of 10 Gaza residents indicated that they did not support Hamas. “Israel was actually going into a favorable situation where most of the Palestinians were against Hamas as well. The concern is they’ve actually turned most of the Palestinians against Israel,” Moulton said.
