Sen. Chris Coons, an influential lawmaker and close Capitol Hill ally of President Joe Biden, opened the door Thursday to the US conditioning aid to Israel amid its ongoing war on the besieged Gaza Strip.
Asked during an interview with CNN, Coons said “I think we’re at that point,” caging his comments on whether Israel conducts “large-scale operations in Rafah,” the southern Gaza city where 1.5 million Palestinians have sought refuge after being displaced.
“If Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister, were to order the IDF into Rafah at scale, they were to drop thousand-pound bombs, send in a battalion to go after Hamas, and make no provision for civilians or for humanitarian aid, I would vote to condition aid to Israel,” he said, referring to Israel’s military. “I’ve never said that before. I’ve never been here before.”
The comments come after Israel carried out strikes on a humanitarian convoy in central Gaza that killed seven aid workers in what the group’s founder called a “direct attack on clearly marked vehicles whose movements were known by the Israel Defense Forces.”
Biden has expressed anger at the killings, but the White House has shown no willingness to change policy on Israel and has repeatedly rejected calls to condition aid. It is unclear if the growing number of the president’s fellow Democrats who are backing the shift will affect his calculus.
Better yet, just stop all aid now.