- Democratic Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen called on the Biden administration to stop Israel’s government from annexing Palestinian-occupied territories in the West Bank.
- Van Hollen is part of a larger Democratic coalition that has demanded Palestine be recognized independently in a two-state system.
- Israeli-Palestinian conflicts surged to deadly highs beginning in 2022 amid an increase in terror attacks by Palestinians against Jews.
Democratic Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen called on President Joe Biden to stop Israeli “racists” from annexing Palestinian-occupied territory in the West Bank, The Guardian reported Monday.
Van Hollen, Chairman of the Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific and International Cybersecurity Policy, suggested that Biden should prevent Israel from using U.S. military aid to annex parts of the West Bank currently occupied by Palestinians, in an interview with the Guardian released Monday. Israeli-Palestinian conflicts in the West Bank escalated to deadly highs starting in 2022 amid an increasing number of terror attacks by Palestinians against Jews.
The Biden administration, which supports an independent Palestine and a two-state solution, has repeatedly warned Israeli leaders to halt settlement expansion into the West Bank. These requests have been largely ignored by Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir.
“When you see it first-hand it underscores how alarming the situation is now with this ultra-rightwing Netanyahu government that includes known racists like Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, and clearly shows that they’re determined to totally take over the West Bank, Van Hollen said.
This reversal of a Trump decision by the Biden Admin is a necessary step to ensuring US policy is consistent w/ international law & to preserving the option for a two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. American taxpayer $$$ should not be used to undermine either. https://t.co/VBqiSLfw2q
— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) July 2, 2023
While he vocally supported U.S. military aid to Israel for the purposes of fending off Iran and Hezbollah, Van Hollen noted that the Biden administration needed to take harsher action to ensure Israel does not expand any further into the West Bank and commit “gross violation of the rights of Palestinians,” according to the Guardian.
“Ben-Gvir openly thumbing his nose at the United States pretty much indicated they’ll do what they want to do, regardless of the US position,” said Van Hollen. “So I do think that in the absence of more accountability demanded from the United States, we undermine our own credibility.”
“I think it’s time to really take a close look at how U.S. security assistance is being used,” said Van Hollen.
In July, Israeli lawmakers passed the first part of a massive judicial reform bill that limits Israel’s Supreme Court’s ability to overturn parliamentary decisions and gives parliament the final say in selecting judges. The bill was met with opposition from the Biden administration and mass protests by Israeli citizens.
Van Hollen is part of a growing chorus of Democrats who have decried Israel’s right-wing and “racist” politics. A group of nine Democrats, including Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Missouri Rep. Cori Bush, voted against a resolution in July that stated Israel was “not a racist or apartheid state.”
In July, Biden called the Israeli government “one of the most extreme” in the country’s history, during an interview with CNN.
“In what way am I an extremist? By handing out weapons to the citizens of Israel so that they can defend themselves? In that I give full backing to our soldiers and officers?” Gvir responded during an interview, according to the Times of Israel. “I invite Biden to tour Jerusalem and Hebron to see that our extremism is extreme, immense love for the State of Israel.”
Van Hollen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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