An article on September 5th by Josh Ruebner in The Hill asserted that Kamala Harris must push to protect Palestinians with an arms embargo. The report on September 7th in The Washington Post about a dual national Turkish-American, Aysenur Eygi, who was shot to death by an Israeli Defense Forces unit while peacefully observing a protest in the West Bank against the expansion of Jewish settlements in the area of Beita reinforces arguments in favor of such an embargo.
Ruebner further notes, “As Israel’s violence against Palestinians over the past 10 months has increased, so too has the amount of weaponry the U.S. is providing to Israel.” As Ruebner claims, “U.S. law is clear: no country can receive U.S. weapons to commit human rights abuses. The Foreign Assistance Act prevents the U.S. from furnishing any support to a country with a ‘consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.’ The Arms Export Control Act mandates that U.S. weapons be used ‘solely for internal security, for legitimate self-defense,’ and for a few other scenarios not relevant to Israel’s attacks on Palestinians in Gaza. No sales or deliveries of any weapons are permitted to a country in ‘substantial violation’ of these limitations.”
An article on August 28th 2024 in Foreign Affairs on “Why U.S. Pressure Can Persuade Netanyahu to Change Course in Gaza” By Daniel Silverman, Anna Pechenkina, Austin Knuppe, and Yehonatan Abramson asserts at length:
“… a unique survey of Israeli public opinion … showed that the United States likely can pressure Israelis to move toward peaceful compromise and an end to the war in Gaza without generating significant backlash. If the Biden administration or, perhaps more likely, its successor were to apply real and sustained pressure on Israel—such as by conditioning the export of offensive weapons to the country in order to reach a deal—it would be likely to significantly undermine Israeli public support for the war and expedite its end.”
Additional commentary appears in The New Republic in an article on August 31 by Daoud Kuttab claiming, “For an Honest Israel-Gaza Ceasefire, the United Nations Is Needed”:
“Netanyahu, who is hobbled by corruption cases and a mandatory neutral investigation of Israeli actions surrounding Hamas’s October 7 attack, doesn’t want to end the war without his version of a victory, which includes the (probably impossible) annihilation of a deep-rooted Palestinian resistance movement and the unilateral release of Israeli soldiers and civilians. Americans and many well-respected Israeli experts and veteran retired military officials keep telling him that this will not happen.
“The United States and its weak Arab negotiators have a clear path that they can follow but have resisted doing so. The United Nations Security Council is the world’s top body for peace and security. The UNSC has ordered a ceasefire, but Israel has refused to even pay attention to the mandatory decision of the Security Council.
“The United Nations Charter has a special chapter (seven) that deals with what to do with parties that refuse to implement mandatory decisions by its Security Council.
“If negotiators for an end to the war are serious, they can simply pass a resolution that details steps to ending the war that doesn’t include any vague opening for the Israeli army to stay in Gaza. Such a resolution would include a prisoner exchange (including release of remaining hostages), an observation mechanism for its implementation, and a path to the globally accepted two-state solution. It should also include a mention of Chapter Seven sanctions to any party that refuses to implement its provisions.
“The United States, whose president began the current process with a proposal that both Israel and Hamas have accepted, should want to make sure that both parties know that they mean what they say by agreeing on a text that the world community can support and will end this carnage.
“Doing the same thing over and over will not resolve the problem even if the head of the CIA is involved. The time has come for a global ceasefire offer that is fair and that includes a clear clause for an immediate end of the war and an Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza. Continuing the current process is playing into the hands of the Israeli prime minister, whose interests are focused on his own political survival. Allowing Israel to get away with its unending revenge war in which so many thousands of Palestinians have been killed and are suffering is a formula for disaster and an invitation for the widening of a conflict that everyone wants to end immediately.”
Perhaps now is the moment to “give peace a chance”.
John McGuinness has over 30 years of experience working in the U.S. federal government in a wide range of military, diplomatic and intelligence assignments until his retirement at the end of 2009. He spent the last nine years of his career working in the Intelligence Community, with the last five years devoted to the nexus between counter-terrorism and counter-proliferation. From July 1998 to June 2000 he worked as a politico-military advisor in the Directorate for NATO Policy at the Department of Defense. For the 50th anniversary of NATO he coordinated for the Office of the Secretary of Defense the revision of NATO’s Strategic Concept and the adaptation of the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe to ensure coverage of NATO-specific interests. Other extensive experience included a decade of work on UN scientific, environmental, economic and social issues, including developing proposals for UN organizational reform, and several years with the CIA addressing the transfer of militarily significant technology as Executive Secretary of the Committee on Exchanges (COMEX). He also spent over a decade in the Foreign Service, with assignments to Madrid as a political-military officer and to Izmir as a vice consul, and served for three years as a Marine anti-aircraft and logistics officer including a tour in Vietnam as a materiel officer with the Headquarters Squadron of the First Marine Aircraft Wing. During his retirement, he has spent twelve years teaching as an adjunct assistant professor of philosophy at Northern Virginia Community College.