How Billions in U.S. Aid Finance Israel’s Wars on Palestinians

FEATURING SAREE MAKDISI: President Joe Biden on Monday said that in a phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he “expressed his support for a ceasefire.” Israeli air strikes have killed hundreds of Palestinians including dozens of children in just 2 weeks in a conflict that began over Jewish settlers trying to seize Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem. Israel has bombed densely populated areas of Gaza including destroying a building that housed the offices of Al Jazeera and Associated Press. Mr. Biden’s cautious support for a ceasefire is the furthest he has gone so far in expressing discomfort over Israel’s violence.

Considering that Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. military aid a growing chorus of elected officials is demanding that Israel be held accountable. A week before Israel began attacking Palestinians, Congress was notified of a $735 million weapons deal finalized between the Biden administration and Netanyahu’s government.

Israeli violence is not relegated to the state any more as ordinary Israelis have taken to marching in the streets chanting, “Death to Arabs,” and engaging in assaults and lynchings. Hamas, the militant Palestinian group, has lobbed dozens of rockets into Israel, Western media coverage of which has eclipsed Israel’s crimes.