Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) led four other GOP senators in a letter condemning President Joe Biden for “undermining Israeli operations against Hamas in Gaza.”
The letter discussed Biden’s February 1 executive order, which claimed there were “high levels of extremist settler violence, forced displacement of people and villages, and property destruction” in the “West Bank.”
“These actions undermine the foreign policy objectives of the United States, including the viability of a two-state solution and ensuring Israelis and Palestinians can attain equal measures of security, prosperity, and freedom,” the executive order read.
The senators wrote to Biden, “Under the guise of ‘peace, security, or stability of the West Bank,’ it appears the State Department can punish arbitrarily any Israeli it wants. Yet, the State Department hasn’t acted against the Palestinian Authority, which makes ‘pay to slay’ payments to terrorists for murdering innocent Israeli families.”
Cotton’s letter also addressed Biden’s February 8 memorandum, which “falsely” implied that “Israeli is committing mass war crimes in its campaign against Hamas and threatens to cut off aid unless Israel meets arbitrary deadlines for providing ‘assurances’ regarding international humanitarian law.”
“Yet, we already have rules requiring aid recipients to comply with applicable law and in line with American interests. Moreover, Israel has provided ample evidence of the steps it takes to avoid civilian casualties, which Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council, John Kirby, acknowledged publicly,” the senators noted.
“You should immediately rescind both your February 1 order and February 8 memorandum. Further, please provide Congress no later than March 15 with a full explanation of what evidentiary basis and processes are intended to be employed when choosing to sanction Israelis while ignoring the serious crimes committed by the Palestinian Authority,” they concluded.
The letter was signed by Sen. Cotton and Sens. Roger Wicker (R-MS), Ted Budd (R-NC), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Deb Fischer (R-NE).
