Joining the sharp criticism against leveraging aid to Israel voiced by Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) said that the idea is “wrong,” Jewish Insider reported.
“We have a $38 billion commitment over 10 years for military aid to Israel. The Israelis need it for defense,” Nadler told the outlet.
The idea of leveraging aid came to the front at the annual J Street conference in Washington, D.C., last week.
Biden called the idea “outrageous.”
Speaking at the conference, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said that the aid could be used as leverage on Jerusalem. “I would use the leverage of $3.8 billion – it is a lot of money – and we cannot give it ‘carte blanche’ to the Israeli government or for that matter to any government at all.
South Bend, Indiana mayor and presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg addressed the issue as well, saying that the US has mechanisms to ensure that American taxpayer support for Israel “does not get turned into US taxpayer support for a move like annexation.”
At the annual J Street conference in Washington, D.C. last week, several Democratic presidential hopefuls said they would condition U.S. aid to Israel on the Jewish state not annexing any part of the West Bank. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT0 further suggested that Israel will have to “fundamentally change” its policy on Gaza if it wants continued military aid. Former Vice President Joe Biden called the proposal “absolutely outrageous.”
Nadler said that “whether we approve or disapprove of specific policies, we shouldn’t use military aid as a pressure point on specific policies — because Israel’s security is paramount.”
Omri Nahmias contributed to this report.