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US House Democrats Demand Biden Administration ‘Suspend Offensive Weapons’ to Israel
US Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) hold a news conference. Photo: Reuters / Erin Scott
A group of 20 Democratic lawmakers in the US House on Tuesday sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin urging the Biden administration to “suspend offensive weapons” to Israel due to the country’s military campaign in Gaza.
The letter, signed by some of the most strident critics of Israel in Congress, called for the outgoing US administration to withhold critical offensive weapons from Israel, citing dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where the Jewish state has been fighting Hamas terrorists for the past 14 months. The lawmakers said that Israel has “failed” to address “concerns over Gaza” and that the Biden administration should “reconsider” sending more weapons to the long-time US ally and lone democracy in the Middle East.
The message was spearheaded by Reps. Summer Lee (D-PA) and Greg Casar (D-TX), the incoming Congressional Progressive Caucus chair. Among the other signatories were some of the most outspoken critics of Israel in Congress, including: Democratic Reps. Jamaal Bowman (NY), Cori Bush (MO), Joaquin Castro (TX), Lloyd Doggett (TX), Veronica Escobar (TX), Jesús García (IL), Al Green (TX), Sara Jacobs (CA), Pramila Jayapal (WA), Hank Johnson (GA), Jim McGovern (MA.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Ilhan Omar (MN), Mark Pocan (WI), Ayanna Pressley (MA), Delia Ramirez (IL), Rashida Tlaib (MI), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ).
“We believe continuing to transfer offensive weapons to the Israeli government prolongs the suffering of the Palestinian people and risks our own national security by sending a message to the world that the US will apply its laws, policies, and international law selectively,” the lawmakers wrote. “Furthermore, a failure to act will put Israeli lives in danger by prolonging [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s war, isolating Israel on the international stage, and creating further instability in the region.”
The letter also condemned Israel for allegedly blocking humanitarian aid transfers into Gaza, saying that an average of 42 trucks per day have entered the enclave.
Experts have rejected such claims, arguing there is no evidence suggesting Israel has blocked humanitarian aid into Hamas-ruled Gaza.
“The facts are that the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] has facilitated the delivery of more aid to territory controlled by the enemy than any military in the history of warfare, despite knowing with certainty that doing so is actually strengthening Hamas and making the IDF’s job harder,” John Hannah, former national security adviser to US Vice President Dick Cheney, recently told The Algemeiner.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said in October that Israel has delivered over 1 million tons of aid, including 700,000 tons of food, to Gaza since it launched its military operation a year ago. He also noted that Hamas terrorists often hijack and steal aid shipments while fellow Palestinians suffer.
In Tuesday’s letter, the lawmakers also criticized Israel over its polio vaccination drive in Gaza, asserting that the Jewish state contributed to escalating “violence” which forced delays in the vaccine distributions. The letter also claimed that Israel did not provide “access to northern Gaza” during the vaccination efforts.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 556,000 children under the age of 10 received two doses of the polio vaccine, representing 94 percent of the target population. The vaccination campaign was a “remarkable achievement given the extremely difficult circumstances the campaign was executed under,” according to the WHO.
Israel has insisted that the evacuation of northern Gaza was a necessary step to preserve civilian life as it continued its military campaign against Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that launched the war with its invasion of southern Israel last Oct. 7. Though critics have labeled the evacuation orders as “forced displacement,” Israel argued that these advanced warnings were evidence of the Jewish state’s commitment to protecting innocents.
Israel says it has gone to unprecedented lengths to try and avoid civilian casualties, noting its efforts to evacuate areas before it targets them and to warn residents of impending military operations with leaflets, text messages, and other forms of communication. However, Hamas, which rules Gaza, has in many cases prevented people from leaving, according to the IDF.
Another challenge for Israel has been Hamas’s widely recognized military strategy of embedding its terrorists within Gaza’s civilian population and commandeering civilian facilities like hospitals, schools, and mosques to run operations and direct attacks.
However, the letter lambasted Israel for allegedly bombing hospitals, schools, and places of worship in Gaza without once mentioning Hamas or any of the terrorist threats that Israel faces.
The missive represents the latest attempt by some Democratic lawmakers, particularly from the party’s progressive wing, to forcibly wind down the Israel-Hamas war by cutting off the Jewish state’s access to certain American arms. In the year following Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, Democratic politicians have adopted an increasingly adversarial stance against the Jewish state. While the vast majority of Democratic officials expressed public agreement with Israel’s right to go to war against Hamas, many liberal lawmakers have nonetheless accused the Jewish state of “indiscriminately” bombing Gaza civilians or inflicting mass “starvation” on the beleaguered enclave.
Tuesday’s letter came days after a group of 77 Democrats in the US House sent a letter to Blinken and Austin demanding that the Biden administration provide an assessment of Israel’s “compliance with all relevant US policies and laws,” suggesting that the Middle East’s lone democracy and Washington’s closest ally in the region is violating international humanitarian law in Gaza.
The post US House Democrats Demand Biden Administration ‘Suspend Offensive Weapons’ to Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Mike Johnson, Chuck Schumer Invite Israeli Hostages and Their Parents to Trump Speech to Congress
US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson stands in the House of Representatives ahead of US President Joe Biden’s third State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the US Capitol in Washington, DC, March 7, 2024. Photo: Shawn Thew/Pool via REUTERS
US congressional leaders Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Mike Johnson (R-LA) have invited some of the Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, and their parents to attend President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night.
Former hostage Noa Argamani has reportedly accepted the invitation of Johnson, the speaker of the House of Representatives, to attend Trump’s speech. Likewise, Orna Neutra and Ruby Chen, the parents of murdered hostages Omer Neutra and Itay Chen, will attend as guests of Schumer, the Senate’s minority leader.
Johnson said that he feels “honored” that Argamani will attend the US president’s joint address to Congress. The Speaker of the House lauded Argamani for displaying “incredible strength and courage” while being held captive by the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza.
In his statement, Schumer lamented the “vicious cruelty of Hamas,” saying he was inspired by the “perseverance” of both Neutra and Chen.
“I am honored that Noa Argamani will be joining us at President Trump’s joint address to Congress,” Johnson told the New York Post. “Despite experiencing the unimaginable in the hands of Hamas, Noa has demonstrated incredible strength and courage.”
Separately, a group of seven hostages saved from Hamas captivity — Eli Sharabi, Doron Steinbrecher, Keith Siegel, Aviva Siegel, Naama Levy, Omer Shem Tov, and Iair Horn — are expected to visit Washington, DC to meet with Trump administration officials and thank the president for helping to secure their release. In addition, the former hostages are expected to detail their experiences while living in Gaza and push for the release of the remaining hostages.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lauded Sharabi’s resilience and encouraged him to relay his story to Trump.
“I deeply appreciate the courageous way you are sharing your experience, and it is also important that you share it with President Trump,” Netanyahu said on Sunday. “Our goal is to bring all the hostages home – and we will not relent for a moment.”
Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists started the war in Gaza when they murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages during their invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in the neighboring enclave. The conflict raged for nearly 16 months until both sides agreed to January’s ceasefire and hostage-release deal, the first phase of which lasted six weeks.
Negotiations are underway to possibly extend the ceasefire.
Netanyahu announced on Sunday that Israel would block all aid into Gaza after the Hamas terrorist group rejected a six-week extension of the current agreement. The proposal would mandate that Hamas release half of the remaining Israeli hostages who were kidnapped into Gaza during the beginning of the extension. The rest of the hostages would be released at the end of the extension, if Hamas and Israel can agree on a permanent ceasefire deal. Israel would retain the right to restart the war in Gaza if negotiations are unsuccessful by the 42-day mark.
The post Mike Johnson, Chuck Schumer Invite Israeli Hostages and Their Parents to Trump Speech to Congress first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Begins Leadership of International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance
Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan speaks to the European Jewish Association symposium audience in the Conference Center of Hilton hotel in Krakow, Poland on Jan. 22, 2024. Photo: Dominika Zarzycka/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Israel this week assumed the presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), an intergovernmental organization comprising dozens of countries dedicated to combating antisemitism and promoting Holocaust research and education.
Dani Dayan — chairman of Yad Vashem, Israel’s national memorial to the Holocaust in Jerusalem — will represent the Jewish state as chair of IHRA.
“We are at a crossroads of generations, and the responsibility of preserving the memory and sharing the stories of the Holocaust will soon rest solely on our shoulders. The voices of victims and survivors demand that we honor their legacy by standing firm against Holocaust denial, distortion, and hatred,” Dayan said in a statement. “In a world witnessing a dramatic rise in antisemitism and grappling with the challenges and opportunities of emerging technologies, our obligation to historical truth has never been more critical.”
Israel’s presidency of IHRA began on Monday and will run through February 2026.
“The antisemitism that resulted in the Holocaust has not been eradicated from the world. On the contrary, over the past year and a half, we have witnessed it intensifying dramatically, targeting both the Jewish people and the Jewish state,” Israeli Foreign Minister Giden Sa’ar added in his own statement, referring to the historic surge in antisemitic incidents around the world since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel.
“The new antisemites attack Israel’s right to exist and its right to defend itself,” Sa’ar continued. “It is our duty not only to remember the Holocaust but also to ensure the existence of the Jewish state, which serves as the guarantee of Jewish continuity for generations to come, while also preserving and passing on the memory of the Holocaust to future generations.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed Israel as the new president of IHRA.
“Today the United States warmly welcomes the start of Israel’s year-long presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which is committed to supporting accurate Holocaust commemoration, education, and research,” Rubio said in a press statement. “We also congratulate the United Kingdom on its completion of a highly successful presidency.”
Rubio added, “The United States will partner with Israel during its IHRA presidency to defend the memory and historical fact of the Holocaust and fight the toxic spread of Holocaust denial and distortion and all other forms of antisemitism.”
The top American diplomat warned of an aggressive US response to the ongoing rise in antisemitism.
“Holocaust distortion, a shocking form of antisemitism, has proliferated and the poison of antisemitism continues to spread,” Rubio said. “We see it in violent attacks on Jews, defacement of Holocaust memorials, and dangerous rhetoric in universities and international organizations. President Trump and I have made the United States’ position unmistakably clear: the United States will confront antisemitism with determination and resolve.”
Israel will be taking over IHRA’s presidency from the United Kingdom, which headed the organization for the past year with Lord Eric Pickles serving as chair.
“The aim was to bring out the best in the IHRA, engender confidence in difficult times, and, above all, strengthen the organization,” Pickles said at a handover ceremony in Jerusalem. “Those of us who attended the poignant 80th anniversary ceremony at Auschwitz-Birkenau in January know that we will never see the like again.”
Pickles added that “10 years from now, at the 90th anniversary, it is unlikely there will be Holocaust survivors to speak. We are now the custodians of their memory. We must remember and tell the truth.”
Recent Legislative Efforts Regarding the IHRA Antisemitism Definition
IHRA adopted a “working definition” of antisemitism in 2016. Since then, the definition has been widely accepted by Jewish groups and lawmakers across the political spectrum, and it is now used by hundreds of governing institutions, including the US State Department, European Union, and United Nations. Dozens of US states have also formally adopted it through law or executive action.
In recent months, several additional measures have been taken to expand the definition’s usage.
Last month, for example, Australia’s 39 universities announced that the IHRA working definition of antisemitism would be used in assessing antisemitism on campus. The country has seen a string of antisemitic crimes which authorities suspect foreign actors of masterminding.
On Feb. 20, US Sens. Katie Britt (R-AL), Tim Scott (R-SC), and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) introduced the Antisemitism Awareness Act to implement the definition in the US Department of Education.
“We cannot allow antisemitism to fester in our schools, on our college campuses, or anywhere in our society. This legislation would give the Department of Education the tools to hold students and institutions accountable,” Britt said at the time. “Any American educational institution authorizing, facilitating, or otherwise supporting pro-terrorism activities should lose every cent of federal funding and subsidization.”
On Feb. 26, the Missouri House of Representatives Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee heard the case for a bill to use the IHRA definition at the state’s schools.
Two weeks earlier, the Kansas House Committee on Education received a presentation on a bill to codify the definition for the state’s schools.
On Feb. 3, the Nebraska Legislature Education Committee conducted a hearing for a bill also seeking to implement the IHRA definition in schools.
In late January, state representatives and community members met at the New Jersey statehouse to speak out in support of a bill for the state to adopt the IHRA definition. The legislation’s primary sponsor, Assemblyman Gary Schaer, said that “today we have an opportunity to do something truly profound — pass bipartisan legislation that will protect a religious minority.”
To resolve two lawsuits, Harvard agreed to implement the IHRA definition and to release an annual report for the next five years documenting responses to violations of Title VI of the US Civil Rights Act of 1964.
In January, Oklahoma State Rep. John Waldron, a Democrat elected in Tulsa, put forward legislation to use the IHRA definition in the state’s guide for employees assessing bigotry.
On Jan. 26, the student government of Rutgers University voted down a measure to embrace the definition.
Days earlier, Ireland announced its embrace of the IHRA definition, despite the Irish government’s harsh criticism of Israel and amid a surge of antisemitism in the country.
In December 2024, a group of 24 Israeli colleges announced plans to use the IHRA definition.
The post Israel Begins Leadership of International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Former Hamas Hostage Emily Damari Undergoes Hand Surgery for Injury Sustained During Oct. 7 Attack
Former hostage Emily Damari is reunited with her mother, on Jan. 19, 2025. Credit: Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson’s Unit.
Former hostage Emily Damari underwent surgery in Israel last week for a hand injury inflicted upon her by Hamas terrorists when she was abducted on Oct. 7, 2023, and in a chilling post on Instagram, she shared details about the inadequate medical care she received during her captivity.
The 28-year-old – who lost her two middle fingers while being taken captive during the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks – said on Monday she takes pride in her disability and also shared photos from the surgical room at Sheba Medical Center’s Department of Hand Surgery, where she had her procedure this week. Remembering her time in captivity, she talked about being transported by Hamas to the Al-Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip for a different kind of “surgery.”
“‘Hi, I’m Dr. Hamas,’ that’s what the doctor at Shifa told me before the ‘surgery,’” Damari recalled. “Seventeen months have passed since then, and now the moment I’ve been waiting for has arrived — the real surgery, at Sheba Medical Center.”
“Today, after 17 months, my moment has arrived — to replace Shifa with Sheba and finally receive proper treatment,” she wrote. “I have come to terms with my injury, truly. I know there is still recovery ahead, but this time, I am surrounded by family and friends I love, and that’s what matters. I am proud of my scars, and with them, I will triumph.”
A British-Israeli dual citizen, Damari was one of three civilian hostages released from Hamas captivity in mid-January as part of the ceasefire deal between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist organization. She was kidnapped from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Her two middle fingers had been shot off by Hamas-led terrorists during the Oct. 7 attacks and she was also shot in the leg. In her Instagram post on Monday, she talked about the procedure she had at the Shifa hospital in Gaza the same day as her abduction.
“I remember sitting in Shifa on October 7th, looking at a small window there, feeling my hand shattered and my leg shot from the bullet that hit Choocha, my beloved dog, the most precious thing I had for 11 years,” she added. “In all the chaos, I didn’t even have time to process it. After all, I was kidnapped to Gaza along with two good friends, my neighbor was murdered, I left my mother, my brother, his wife, and their daughters behind — who knew what would happen to them.”
“Then that moment came — they took me into the operating room, with a corpse in front of me,” she added. “I saw the blue sky, which should have been gray on such a day. I prayed to God to protect me. And then I woke up to Dr. Hamas informing me that I no longer had two fingers, and that the wound on my leg remained open with four stitches instead of sixteen.”
Damari concluded her Instagram by quoting a Hebrew Psalm which means in English: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.” She also thanked the “incredible” doctors at Sheba Medical Center who treated her as well as the “amazing team of nurses.”
In a post on X, Damari shared a photo of herself after her recent hand surgery, showing off her two new fingers. In the caption, she again talked about “embracing” her scars, saying, “to me they represent freedom, hope, and strength.”
“I thank G-d, the IDF, and everyone who fought to give me my life back. Now let’s bring all the hostages home,” she said.
The post Former Hamas Hostage Emily Damari Undergoes Hand Surgery for Injury Sustained During Oct. 7 Attack first appeared on Algemeiner.com.