CAIR condemns Biden for bypassing Congress to ship tank shells to Israel, ‘affront to democracy’
An American-Muslim advocacy group condemned President Biden’s transfer to bypass Congress to promote hundreds of tank shells to Israel, saying the administration’s resolution was “an affront to democracy and an act of moral insanity.”
Edward Ahmed Mitchell, nationwide deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, decried the Biden administration’s resolution, claiming that the transfer would embolden Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “kill more Palestinian civilians.”
“Rushing deadly weapons to the far-right and openly genocidal Israeli government without congressional review robs American voters of their voice in Congress, emboldens Netanyahu to kill more Palestinian civilians and further stains our nation’s standing in the world,” Mr. Mitchell mentioned.
He continued, “The timing is also remarkable, as media outlets just confirmed that Israeli tanks deliberately targeted and slaughtered journalists in Lebanon. The Biden administration’s decision is an affront to democracy and an act of moral insanity.”
The group’s condemnation of the sale comes because the White House ripped feedback from the CAIR’s National Executive Director Nihad Awad that seemingly accepted of the terrorist group Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault on Israel.
The Biden administration used emergency authority from the Arms Export Control Act to approve the sale of over 14,000 tank shells to be delivered instantly to Israel — a sale price about $106 million.
The State Department mentioned that it had notified Congress of the transfer Friday after Secretary of State Antony Blinken deemed “an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale” of the munitions.
“The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to U.S. national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability. This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives,” the division mentioned. “Israel will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defense.”
The sale comes as Congress has struggled to search out center floor on a $106 billion emergency package deal proposed by Mr. Biden that features $14.3 billion for Israel.
Republicans within the House and Senate have argued that the package deal, which incorporates funding for Biden administration targets on the U.S.-Mexico border, must have border safety coverage connected to go both chamber.
House lawmakers beforehand handed a $14.3 billion standalone Israel support invoice, however it’s all however useless because the Senate continues negotiations on the entire package deal.
It additionally follows the failure of a United Nations Security Council cease-fire decision to place a cease to combating within the Israel-Hamas struggle over humanitarian considerations. The U.S. vetoed the decision, marking itself because the lone vote towards the U.N.’s cease-fire push.
• This article was primarily based partly on wire service studies.
