House poised to vote on Israel arms after mixed report on their use

WASHINGTON — Congressional reaction to the State Department’s report Friday on security assistance to Israel underlined the gap between Democrats and Republicans over whether the U.S. should use weapons transfers to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government as leverage to curb the killings of Palestinian civilians.

House Republicans are planning a floor vote this week on draft legislation that would seek to force the administration into continuing weapons transfers to Israel.

The bill isn’t expected to move forward in the Senate for political and policy reasons.

The State Department found it “reasonable to assess” that since the start of its Oct. 7 war with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, Israel has used U.S.-provided military equipment in ways that violate its international humanitarian law obligations or that go against established best practices to minimize civilian harm.

The finding, in a report the Biden administration agreed to provide Congress under its February National Security Memorandum 20, came about a week after Biden paused a weapons shipment to Israel.

The House legislation, sponsored by Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., would prohibit funds from fiscal 2024 or earlier from being used “to withhold, halt, reverse, or cancel the delivery of defense articles or defense services” to Israel. It would also order the secretary of state to promptly approve and ensure the delivery, including to Israel’s Public Security Ministry, of “all direct commercial sales of defense articles” for which delivery is “expected” in fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2025.

The bill would also require the administration to deliver to Israel any “withheld” defense articles or defense services.

“It is time to stop trying to appease terrorists and send the necessary weapons to Israel so they can end this war,” Calvert said in a statement. Twenty-six House Democrats, just over 12 percent of the caucus, signed a letter to national security adviser Jake Sullivan last week that criticized the pause. The House vote this week would test whether they are willing to back legislation.

The State Department said Monday there would be no change in overall U.S. policy toward arming Israel except for the announced pause of a single shipment of 2,000- and 500-pound bombs. The administration said it took the action out of concern over Israel’s plans to invade Rafah.

“The report that they put out Friday night, after news deadlines passed, was very clear,” Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said in a Sunday CBS interview. “There is no evidence that Israel is violating international law. All civilian casualties in Gaza are solely the responsibility of Hamas.”