Over the weekend, I linked the hugely important piece in the Nation by an investment banker and longtime ardent supporter of Israel and the lobby, who now describes the occupation as “apartheid on steroids” and I said, This is it. And this is it. The U.S. establishment is at last beginning to echo the criticisms of the disgraceful regime in that land that appear on this website all the time. Today Haaretz has this hugely important report (hat tip Rick Congress) about what it says is a long-simmering initiative by Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy. When will it be on the front page of the Times? Will it make any difference? Let’s be positive. (Though notice the brilliant self-immolating Orwellian lobby passage from deep in the article, below). Barak Ravid:
U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy is promoting a bill to suspend U.S. assistance to three elite Israel Defense Forces units, alleging they are involved in human rights violations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Leahy, a Democrat and senior member of the U.S. Senate, wants assistance withheld from the Israel Navy’s Shayetet 13 unit, the undercover Duvdevan unit and the Israel Air Force’s Shaldag unit.
Leahy says these units are responsible for harming innocent Palestinian civilians and that no system of investigation is in place to ensure that their members are not committing human rights violations. According to Leahy’s proposal, U.S. military assistance to Israel would be subject to the same restrictions that apply to countries such as Egypt, Pakistan and Jordan.
Here’s the irony:
The senior Israeli official said that the Israeli Embassy in Washington had been trying unsuccessfully now for some months to persuade Leahy to back down from the initiative…
If necessary, Barak and Leahy would hold another talk, the official added.
