Progressive members of the Democratic party are pushing President Joe Biden to “undertake a shift in U.S. policy” against what they have dubbed Israel’s “new extreme right-wing” government and to investigate whether any weapons created in the U.S. have been used in the region for human rights violations.
In a letter written by Democratic Representative Jamaal Bowman and obtained by Newsweek, the progressive members call for “immediate action” against the administration of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for the “repressive, anti-democratic policies and escalating violence towards the Palestinian population.”
The letter has also been signed by nine other congressional progressives, including Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Cori Bush, Summer Lee, Andre Carson, and Betty McCollum, as well as Senator Bernie Sanders. Sanders is also responsible for bringing in support from the Upper Chamber.
The undated later comes at a time when Netanyahu has had to face a lot of protests over his proposal for overhauling Israel’s judiciary system. If the reforms go through the nation’s parliament would have a lot more power as the court’s oversight over parliament would widely be removed. In the letter, Bowman writes that this plan is going to “threaten the rights of all citizens of Israel,” and it would provide the grounds for more corruption by Prime Ministers and could potentially open the way for “further annexation of Palestinian lands.”
Many of those who have signed the letter are members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and have been pushing Biden to ensure that taxpayer funds were not being used to support “projects in illegal settlements.
