While the Biden-Harris administration has consistently called for peace in the region, it has done so while persisting in politically supporting and arming Israel. For weeks Senator Bernie Sanders has been calling for an end to military aid to Israel, because it has broken both international and American law. “In my view,” he said, “Israel should not be receiving another nickel in U.S. military aid.” But the Biden-Harris government has ignored him and other critics.

U.S. military aid to Israel is staggering. Since its founding in 1948, according to the non-governmental Council on Foreign Relations, “Israel has been the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign aid receiving about $310 billion (adjusted for inflation) in total economic and military assistance. The United States provided Israel considerable economic assistance from 1971 to 2007, but nearly all U.S. aid today goes to support Israel’s military, the most advanced in the region. The United States has provisionally agreed to provide Israel with $3.8 billion per year through 2028.”

Since Israel’s war with Hamas began last October, the United States has provided about $30 billion in military assistance to Israel. According to the Leahy Law the United States cannot provide security assistance to foreign governments or groups that commit gross human rights violations, but the Biden-Harris administration has simply ignored the law.

The U.S. itself is also present, with about 40,000 military personnel in the region in August, and the number has been growing. U.S. troops are stationed in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates, and there are also large bases in Djibouti and Turkey.

Since Israel’s war on Hamas began, Biden has also sent several warships to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea. These include two aircraft carrier groups, several destroyers, and amphibious landing vessel, as well as thousands of Marines. The United States has also deployed considerable Air Force resources, fighters, transport aircraft, and tankers, serviced by a few thousand more troops. More U.S. war planes are on the way.

The Palestine solidarity movement, so active on some campuses in the spring, has been repressed by university administrations, and its encampments and protests are banned. Pro- Palestine professors have been fired and speakers cancelled. Parts of the Palestine solidarity movement remain divided over support for Hamas. In several U.S. cities, relatively small numbers joined in pro-Palestine demonstrations on October 5, chanting slogans such as, “Gaza, Lebanon you will rise, the people are by your side.” But with war now not only in Gaza but also in Lebanon, where 43% are Christian and 58% Muslim (27% Shiite), many do not support Hezbollah and even blame it for the war, so the situation is now more complicated. War with Iran will make it more complicated still. The anti-war movement has yet to come to grips with these developments.

Kamala Harris met with Arab and Muslim groups in the crucial state of Michigan last week. She is still talking peace while Biden provides arms. It could cost her the election, and could lead to Republican Donald Trump’s victory.

Dan La Botz