Democratic lawmakers are furious with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for rejecting the idea of creating an independent Palestinian nation after fighting in the Gaza Strip ends.
Netanyahu was blunt about his intentions during a news conference on Thursday, saying that Israel “needs security control over all territory” west of Jordan after the war, he said. “This collides with the idea of sovereignty.”
A two-state solution has been a key goal of the Biden administration as it plans the post-war future in the region. But Netanyahu signaled that he won’t take Washington’s pleas into account.
“The prime minister needs to be capable of saying no to our friends,” he said.
After leaving a Thursday meeting about the Middle East crisis with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other lawmakers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Chris Van Hollen said Washington is fed up with Israel’s leadership.
“I think people are at the end of their ropes with the Netanyahu coalition … which includes pretty right-wing extremists,” Van Hollen told POLITICO. “It’s pretty clear that Netanyahu is listening much more to the extremists in his government than the president of the United States and the Biden administration.”
The Maryland Democrat argued that Biden ought to abandon “quiet diplomacy” with Netanyahu, along with the “mixed signals” sent “when the Biden administration bypasses congressional notification to rush more artillery, and other weapons to Israel, when at the same time, they’re telling Netanyahu to reduce the number of civilian casualties.”
Van Hollen is spearheading an amendment to the multibillion-dollar national security supplemental to mandate the president ensure that countries receiving U.S. military assistance, including Israel, use the weapons in accordance with U.S. law, international humanitarian law and the laws of armed conflict.
Van Hollen announced Friday that the number of Democratic co-sponsors for the amendment had grown from a dozen to 18.
Sens. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) have recently signed on. The initial group comprised Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.).
Another proposed amendment, from Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), would ensure that Congress retains the ability to review arms transfers to Israel, which would be waived under the supplemental.
Lawmakers, including Democrats, have been largely supportive of Israel throughout its battle against the Hamas militant group, which killed some 1,200 people on Israeli soil on Oct. 7. But as Israel’s military has continued its widespread ground operation and airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, displacing the majority of the population and leaving thousands dead, Democrats have become more willing to criticize Israel’s leadership.
Democrats also want President Joe Biden to do more to pressure Netanyahu to ramp down his military campaign in Gaza amid the mounting civilian casualties and human suffering there. Some 24,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed in less than four months of fighting, according to Palestinian authorities.
In a statement on Friday, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) said she was “appalled” by Netanyahu’s remarks. The prime minister’s opposition to a two-state solution won’t keep his country safe, she added.
“He is effectively ruling out a sustainable, peaceful outcome in the long-term,” Duckworth said. “The only viable path to lasting peace is establishing a Palestinian nation-state alongside Israel.”
A group of 15 Jewish House Democrats also criticized the prime minister’s comments on Friday.
“We strongly disagree with the Prime Minister. A two-state solution is the path forward,” according to a statement from the lawmakers, who included Reps. Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts, Adam Schiff of California, Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan.
When asked about Netanyahu’s comment on Thursday, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that the U.S. won’t stop working toward a two-state solution.
“If we took such statements as the final word, there would be no humanitarian assistance going into Gaza and no hostages released,” a senior administration official, granted anonymity to candidly respond to the remarks, told POLITICO on Thursday. “As with those and many other issues, we will continue to work toward the right outcome, particularly on issues where we strongly disagree.”
On Thursday, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said the remarks were “not helpful” to ongoing negotiations of a national security package that would provide billions in aid to Israel.
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) also plans to offer an amendment to the supplemental national security spending package in support of a two-state solution that he says will get broad backing.
Netanyahu is “at every opportunity, making things worse. It’s still the United States government’s position and objective to achieve a two-state solution, and we’re not letting go of that,” Schatz said before the Thursday meeting with Blinken. “Netanyahu is way out of the mainstream of American politics and making it hard for the prospects of peace for anyone.”