A highly anticipated report submitted to Congress by the Biden administration on Friday says it was “reasonable to assess” that U.S.-supplied weaponry had at times been used by Israel in instances inconsistent with its obligations under international humanitarian law or established best practices.
Yet because Hamas embedded its fighters among the population of Gaza after invading Israel on Oct. 7 and due to the difficulty of verifying information in the war-ravaged region, the White House has accepted the Israeli government’s assurances it is not violating stipulations on the use of U.S. military aid.
War in Israel and Gaza
In fact, the report – meant to determine compliance with a February national security memorandum called NSM-20 that sought to ensure accountability for weapons transferred by the U.S. to other countries – noted that one reason U.S. officials were unable to make more concrete determinations about weapons use was that Israel was less than fully cooperative.
“Israel has not shared complete information to verify whether U.S. defense articles covered under NSM-20 were specifically used in actions that have been alleged as violations,” it said.
The State Department noted in a summary of its key findings that the report is an ongoing assessment and that it will “continue to monitor and respond to any challenges to the delivery of aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza moving forward.”
If a determination is made that Israel has violated the terms under which it is receiving weapons, the U.S. would be expected to stop sending military assistance.
Both the State and Defense departments were charged with evaluating Israeli pledges of compliance in reports to Biden and Congress under the February national security memorandum, which stated that all countries receiving military assistance from the U.S. must provide “credible and reliable” assurances that it is using the equipment within legal bounds and have not interfered with the delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance.
The review wasn’t confined to Israel. The administration is evaluating 80 countries around the world that receive U.S. military support. A deadline to complete the majority of those evaluations falls later in the year, but seven that were labeled “active combat” zones had their time limit shortened to Wednesday. Israel was included in that list, along with Ukraine, Nigeria, Somalia, Iraq, Colombia and Kenya.
After receiving the required assurances in March, the two departments, U.S. embassies and the National Security Council had 45 days to gather what one official described to The Washington Post as “relevant” information. That information was then delivered to Blinken.
The findings do not go nearly as far as warnings and conclusions by humanitarian groups, such as Amnesty International. For its part, the United Nations published a report in February documenting violations of international humanitarian law, including “possible war crimes” committed by both parties.
A leaked internal memo first reported by Reuters suggests that some officials within the State Department disagreed with the conclusions. The memo showed that officials at four of the department’s bureaus don’t believe the assurances from the Israeli government, calling them “neither credible nor reliable.”
Despite the dissension, Axios reported that Jack Lew, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, and David Satterfield, the outgoing U.S. Gaza humanitarian envoy, sent a memo to Blinken recommending he certify in the report that Israel was not obstructing humanitarian aid.
Two officials told the outlet that Lew and Satterfield made it clear that, while Israel had interfered with the aid in the past, it changed its policy after Biden gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an ultimatum last month.
That was followed this week by Biden’s announcement that he canceled a shipment of weapons that included 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs. The administration said it is also reviewing whether it will press pause on future transfers.
In light of warnings from the Israeli government and bipartisan lawmakers, the White House presented the decision as a choice and not an order. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Thursday said Israel has to make “a choice” on whether it will “smash” into Rafah and cause the U.S. to delay additional shipments.
Regardless, Biden once again finds himself with little room to move as he faces mounting criticism and now a potential loss of donors among moderate, pro-Israel Democrats with only six months to go before his contentious rematch with former President Donald Trump.
