Amid Israel’s continued attacks on Iran, U.S. lawmakers from across the political spectrum are pushing efforts to curb Donald Trump’s war powers as U.S. involvement in the war threatens to fracture Trump’s political coalition.
A bipartisan group of Senators introduced a bill last week to advance the normalization of ties between Israel and Arab governments. The bill builds on the Trump administration’s cynical business deals with Arab governments to further their interests at the expense of the Palestinian people. It is highly doubtful the Biden administration will oppose it.
Dropping bombs on the Middle East is a rite of passage for modern Presidents and last week Joe Biden officially joined the club.
“This makes President Biden the seventh consecutive US president to order strikes in the Middle East.” said Rep. Ro Khanna. “There is absolutely no justification for a president to authorize a military strike that is not in self-defense against an imminent threat without congressional authorization….I spoke against endless war with Trump, and I will speak out against it when we have a Democratic President.”
On Wednesday, six members of Congress introduced a bipartisan bill to create a $50 million annual fund to “facilitate and finance joint economic ventures and people-to-people exchanges between Palestinians, Israelis, and Americans.” While the bill could be seen by well-intentioned members of Congress as a last-ditch attempt to revive the moribund prospects for a two-state resolution, Josh Ruebner says it should more accurately be seen as consistent with the Trump administration’s “deal of the century,” which appears in all likelihood to preclude the possibility of Palestinian statehood.
Since Netanyahu’s reelection, mainstream Democrats have taken up ardent opposition to his plan to annex parts of West Bank. Sec’y of State Mike Pompeo won’t say what Trump will do, but MD’s Chris Van Hollen dares to imagine one state with equal rights: “Would you agree that in a one state solution Palestinians should have full and equal political and legal rights with other citizens of that state?”