A new development involves Florida Democrat Jared Moskowitz criticizing Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for suggesting that Israel’s behavior in Gaza should determine whether or not it receives conditional aid. The United States Democratic Party is fractured on the subject of the growing Middle Eastern tensions.
In a statement, Democratic Senator Sanders urged Vice President Biden to put pressure on Israel to stop constructing so many settlements in the West Bank. Prior to the disbursement of U.S. aid monies, he further demanded that a pledge not to impose a long-term siege on Gaza be made.
In response, Moskowitz promised to do all in his power to ensure that no legislation introduced to the House of Representatives included such provisions. help to Gaza should be humanitarian, he said, but help to Israel should not be subject to political demands. A common Jewish ancestry unites Moskowitz and Sanders.
The delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza has my full support. “However, if Bernie Sanders attaches political conditions to the aid to Israel, I will endeavor in the House to eliminate those conditions or impose conditions on the aid to Gaza that demand the disarmament of Hamas,” Moskowitz declared over the weekend.
Bringing attention to the critical nature of the matter, Moskowitz stressed, “Let’s not play this game. Both should be assisted. The war has escalated since October 7, when Hamas militants brutally killed almost 1,200 people, mostly civilians, after infiltrating southern Israel.
Israel stormed Gaza and invaded the territory with armed forces in retaliation for the attacks. Since October 7, the Gazan administration, which is controlled by Hamas, has recorded a death toll of thirteen thousand.
Disagreements over Israel have widened existing schisms in the Democratic Party, especially among younger progressives and more traditionalists on the left. More than twenty Democrats on the extreme left voted against a resolution last month that would have condemned antisemitism and expressed support for Hamas on school campuses. Also, a sizable number of moderate Democrats eventually went along with Republicans in denouncing the remarks made by the sole Palestinian American lawmaker in Congress, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, regarding the war.
Sanders stated that in order for the United States to provide aid, Israel must first undergo a dramatic shift in its political and military stances. New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shared the sentiment, saying, “Conditioning aid to Israel, as we do with virtually all other US allies, is a responsible course of action.” She stressed that it is the moral and legal obligation of the US to prevent the use of public funds to fund egregious abuses of human rights and international law.