Pro-Israel Democrats decry settler violence in West Bank amid attacks on Palestinians | Israel
As Israeli settlers escalate violent attacks on Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, with Israeli forces often standing by, accusations are also mounting in the United States from Democratic lawmakers and public figures who are staunch defenders of Israel.
In recent days, dozens of settlers have set fire to homes and vehicles and attacked Palestinians in seemingly coordinated attacks. Since the beginning of the month, Israeli settlers and police have killed at least 10 Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank, including two teenage brothers and their parents returning from a Ramadan shopping trip.
Ritchie Torres, a New York Democratic representative and one of Israel’s staunchest defenders in Congress, wrote in an op-ed: expression “The crisis of extremist settler violence in the West Bank must be confronted and perpetrators prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” this week. He called for “zero tolerance for violent extremism in any form.”
Torres is facing re-election, and his opponents have made his support for Israel a central part of their campaign.
Daniel Goldman, another pro-Israel Democrat seeking re-election in New York, also condemned The violence he calls “a disgrace.” U.S. House speaker urges Mike Johnson to vote proposed legislation He has sought to impose sanctions against “those who undermine hopes for a two-state solution by committing unlawful acts of violence” and criticized the Trump administration for rescinding sanctions against a number of violent settlers imposed by the US government under Joe Biden.
“This violence is undemocratic and unacceptable,” Goldman wrote. “The Israeli government must hold those responsible to account, as required by the rule of law.”
Torres and Goldman won millions In campaign support from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or Aipac. However, voters have become increasingly critical of the Israel lobby, including many candidates. distance themselves from him and promised not to accept his contributions.
Other Aipac-backed politicians who condemned settler violence this week included: Ruben GallegoThe Arizona senator called on the Israeli government to “stop being complicit” and Arizona congressman Greg Stanton also called on “stop being complicit” in the attacks.acts of terrorismShontel Brown, a Democratic congresswoman from Ohio, accused Trump of “greenlighting settler violence.”
“This has to stop,” he said in question.
Nevada senator Jacky Rosen, another recipient of Aipac funding, said: a statement “Violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank is a national security threat to Israel and must be treated as such.”
Outside the convention, pro-Israel television host Chris Cuomo commented:What happened?Maga expert Batya Ungar-Sargon in a post sharing news about the attacks wrote: “The Israeli government must immediately eliminate this sickening settler terrorism.”
A Guardian analysis published on Wednesday found that Israel has not launched any investigations against its own citizens for killing Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of this decade. Settlers often work in concert with the military to carry out their attacks.
Even as U.S.-Israeli military cooperation reached an all-time high with the joint war against Iran, U.S. public support for Israel has declined rapidly. An NBC News report earlier this month questionnaire It found that two-thirds of Democrats say they sympathize with Palestinians over Israelis; a dramatic shift with significant consequences for the party as primaries and midterm elections approach. Republicans are much more supportive of Israel; 68 percent say they have more sympathy for Israelis.
No Republicans appear to have commented on the latest series of settler attacks.
“Israel’s supporters in the United States, especially liberals and Democrats, understand how supporting Israel has become a political responsibility,” said Yousef Munayyer, head of Arab Center DC’s Palestine/Israel program.
He added that politicians, backed by pro-Israel donors but facing an increasingly pro-Palestinian electorate, are “caught between the money they rely on to make their campaigns work and the voters they actually need to win over.”
He believes that condemning the settlers’ blatant violence is an easy way to express their discontent with Israel without offending donors. “On the face of it, this offers Democrats a way to condemn Israeli actions against Palestinians without challenging the state of Israel.”
Aipac did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Deryn Sousa, a spokesperson for the group, told Politico that “efforts to push pro-Israel Democrats out of the political process are alarming and fundamentally undemocratic.”
It is unclear whether the Trump administration has brought up the recent settler attacks in its meetings with Israeli counterparts. Earlier this week, a right-wing Israeli publication reported that J.D. Vance had a heated exchange on the issue in a phone call with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. However, the US vice president’s spokesman denied the report and said: “completely wrongThe White House and the State Department did not respond to a request for comment on the violence or any conversations with Israeli officials about it.
A. United Nations report A statement issued this month warned that the Israeli government had forcibly displaced nearly 36,000 Palestinians last year by accelerating the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The report found that the violence accelerated last year, with “Israeli officials playing a central role in directing, participating in, or enabling this behavior.”
