WASHINGTON \u2014 Secretary of State Antony Blinken says it\u2019s reasonable to believe that Israeli security forces breached international law in executing a ruthless seven-month campaign against Hamas in Gaza that has killed thousands of civilians.<\/p>\n
But Kentucky Republican Rep. Andy Barr says the Biden administration shouldn\u2019t say so.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to come to their defense and not accuse them of violating international law,\u201d Barr told Blinken during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing Wednesday.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a demonstration of how fervently committed Barr is to the Israeli cause in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks, even as a younger generation clamorously aligns with the Palestinians.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing surprising about this. For most members of Congress, unconditional support for Israel is the \u2018smart\u2019 political choice, even if doing so undermines U.S. interests,\u201d said Stephen Walt, a Harvard University professor of international affairs and author of the book \u201cThe Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTreating Israel like a normal country will just get them in hot water at home and encourage AIPAC and groups in the Israel lobby to back opposition candidates,\u201d Walt continued. \u201cSo Israel is free to do whatever it wants.\u201d<\/p>\n
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee contributed $19,100 to Barr during the 2022 campaign cycle, according to Open Secrets.<\/p>\n
A State Department report released earlier this month found certain instances where Israel used U.S. weapons to act outside of international humanitarian law, citing the high civilian casualty count in Gaza.<\/p>\n
Barr believes Blinken\u2019s words may have contributed to the International Criminal Court\u2019s decision to prosecute Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a decision that Republicans have roundly panned as outrageous and President Joe Biden himself has rejected. The ICC is also seeking to prosecute leaders of Hamas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no equivalence between Israel and Hamas,\u201d the president has declared. \u201cContrary to allegations against Israel made by the International Court\u2026 what\u2019s happening is not genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blinken explained to Barr that the ICC should not have attempted to submit warrants for Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant because the U.S. and Israel are both investigating the abuse of American weaponry.<\/p>\n
Yet Barr ostensibly does not believe the U.S. should even accuse Israel of any violations as it prosecutes its war against Hamas. When he pressed Blinken to disavow that assessment, the secretary stood his ground.<\/p>\n
And he defended the Biden administration decision to pause a shipment of high-grade munitions to Israel due to worry about civilian casualties in Rafah, the southernmost strip in Gaza.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen and we\u2019ve had concerns about the way these large yield munitions have been used in dense environments,\u201d Blinken told Barr.<\/p>\n
But Barr charged that it\u2019s domestic politics that\u2019s pressuring the Biden administration to pull back, as scores of young people stage protests and encampments on college campuses against the U.S.-backed military campaign.<\/p>\n
Whether Israel is actually in violation of international law is contested among experts.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs Blinken should know, a particular attack\u2019s legality is not dependent on the number of casualties actually inflicted, let alone on a terrorist group\u2019s fictitious figures,\u201d said retired Lt. Col. Geoffrey Corn, a distinguished fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America.<\/p>\n
But the chief prosecutor of the ICC, Karim Khan, has centered his warrant around Israel\u2019s intentional use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe crime is not limited solely to the deprivation of food, but includes other objects indispensable for the survival of civilians such as water, fuel and medicine,\u201d reads the ICC report.<\/p>\n
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