Israel’s allies face “risks” by continuing to send weapons

As global protests escalate over the increasing number of civilian deaths in Gaza, many Western governments that provide military support to Israel are facing difficulties in maintaining this balance in light of accusations against them of contributing to the commission of “war crimes.”

During the past week alone, three countries that support Israel – Germany, Britain and the United States – faced extreme positions calling for stopping the supply of weapons to Israel.

Before a United Nations court, Germany found itself on Tuesday forced to defend against accusations that it was complicit in genocide against Palestinians in Gaza by exporting weapons to Israel.

A few hours later, in Washington, Representative Gregory Meeks, a senior Democrat and White House ally, said he might block an $18 billion deal to sell F-15 fighter jets to Israel until he had more information about how Israel uses these weapons.

On the same day, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron was pressed to talk about the findings of his government regarding the internal review into whether Israel had violated international humanitarian law during its attack on Gaza.

The United States and Germany are Israel’s largest military backers, with 98 percent of the major weapons systems sent to Israel, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

The New York Times says, “So far, the pressures have not affected these two countries, nor Britain, even though US President Joe Biden threatened earlier this month to link future support for Israel to how he addresses his concerns about civilian casualties and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.” .

In Britain, concerns about the continued provision of military support to Israel have raised concerns over 600 lawyers and retired judges, who urged the British government to freeze arms shipments to Israel, citing a “reasonable risk” of genocide in Gaza.

However, as the death toll in Gaza rose, Belgium, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain halted arms supply deals to Israel.

According to the newspaper, “Things could get worse if Israel continues to implement its plans to invade the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people have taken refuge.”

Germany is estimated to have approved arms exports to Israel worth about $353 million last year, although officials have said most of the military aid provided since the war began has been non-lethal.

“It is unclear whether the wave of popular anger within Germany toward Israel will ultimately lead to a halt to arms sales,” says Christian Mölling, research director at the German Council on Foreign Relations.

By far the largest arms exporter to Israel is the United States, which in 2016 committed to a 10-year, $38 billion military aid package, including $5 billion for missile defense.

However, Biden has gradually taken a tougher tone against Israel as the war continues, last week calling on Israel to do more to protect civilians.

The newspaper shows that “this was not enough to satisfy the Americans who wanted Biden to use the threat of cutting off weapons to pressure the Israelis to accept a ceasefire.”

In a recent flurry of letters, at least seven Democratic senators and more than 50 House Democrats, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker, urged Biden to halt all arms transfers to Israel.

Adding to the pressure on Biden’s treachery, a coalition of dozens of liberal organizations and labor unions, which will be a major part of Biden’s re-election campaign, demanded in a letter on Thursday that military aid to Israel be halted until its government lifts restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Cristina Ramirez, president of the “NextGen America” organization, which focuses on increasing voter turnout and is part of the coalition, believes that if the demands contained in the letter are not dealt with positively, Biden faces “the possibility of losing the support of reliable Democratic voters, especially young people.”