An article on the American "Hale" website stated that the International Court of Justice's ruling that it was "reasonable" that Israel had engaged in genocide in Gaza confirms the need to review the current American policy regarding handing over to Israel American weapons used in its attacks on Gaza.

The site's writers, Laura Lumby and William de Hartung, said that the court's ruling should mean abandoning giving Israel special treatment when it comes to enforcing current US human rights laws regarding arms transfers.

They explained that “Israeli exceptionalism” in US military aid has always been an open secret, as for decades violations of human rights standards and American laws by Israel were not taken into account, partly due to the feeling that the allocation of annual “Camp David” aid to Israel -Now $3.3 billion annually- cannot be canceled under any circumstances.

They noted that this may be about to change in light of the International Court of Justice's decision.

like never before

They stated that something unprecedented happened last week, which is that the US Senate requested further scrutiny by the State Department regarding the military aid paid by American taxpayers to Israel.

The writers called for the need for Israel to adhere to the same standards as other countries receiving American weapons, saying that the US Departments of State and Defense have repeatedly violated laws passed by Congress in an attempt to ensure that American taxpayers are not involved in serious human rights violations by recipient countries.

A prime example, say William and Laura, is that Israel's de facto exemption from the Leahy Laws, named after their author, former Senator Patrick Leahy, requires the Departments of State and Defense to halt U.S. transfers of military aid to "any unit of the security forces of a country foreigner if the Secretary of State has reliable information that this unit has committed a gross violation of human rights.

Despite the crimes

The article goes on to state that despite numerous “alleged” murders in the West Bank by Israeli security forces, including the killing of a Palestinian-American journalist, the US government has never found a single flagrant violation of the operation of the law.

The article drew attention to the fact that the British newspaper "The Guardian" explained that the US State Department had established a special operation for Israel to circumvent the "Leahy Law", unlike other countries, where a credible allegation of a violation by a unit of the army, police, or other national security forces is sufficient to prevent That unit will provide American assistance until the matter is decided.

He said that the text on this exceptional situation was recorded in a 2021 agreement signed by a senior official in the US State Department and the Israeli ambassador to the United States. By referring to Israel's "strong, independent, and effective legal system, including its military justice system," the agreement appears to grant Israel an exemption when it comes to applying the Leahy Law.

where is the problem?

The leading Israeli human rights organization "B'Tselem" confirmed that the problem is that Israel uses the military law enforcement system as a whitewashing mechanism aimed at preventing any criticism of its policies and the actions of its army in the West Bank, adding that the percentage of soldiers' convictions is close to zero, even for the most serious violations. .

The article demanded that the US Senate openly discuss Israel's use of US weapons in Gaza, and the possibility of enforcing relevant US laws, adding that failure to do so threatens to make both Congress and the State Department irrelevant to foreign policy, even as doing so erodes... American democracy.

Source: Hill + Aljazeera