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US Sen. Tina Smith Defends Decision to Vote Against Israel Aid
US Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN). Photo: Reuters Connect
US Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) defended her recent vote to block US military aid to Israel, describing the Jewish state’s military operations against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza as “antithetical” to American values.
In an interview with anti-Israel news host Mehdi Hasan published over the weekend, Smith said that her vote in November to impose a partial arms embargo on Israel “was an opportunity to stand up for our values.” She argued that the United States should not be “complicit” in the actions of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adding that Israel’s conduct during the ongoing war in Gaza is “antithetical” to American values and possibly in violation of US policy regarding use of military arms.
“I think it was [a] bad decision for people not to vote as I did,” Smith said.
In November, Smith was among the 17 Democratic senators who voted in favor of legislation spearheaded by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to implement a partial arms embargo on Israel. The legislation, S.J.Res.111, was a measure to ban the sale of tank cartridges to Israel, was defeated by a margin of 79 to 18. Other anti-Israel resolutions sponsored by Sanders, S.J. Res. 113 and S.J. Res. 115, which targeted sales of mortar rounds and precision-guided bombs, were rejected on the Senate floor by similar margins.
Hasan then lamented the supposed “pervasive anti-Palestinian racism” within American society, pointing out that US President Donald Trump has chided Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) as being “a Palestinian.” Smith lambasted Trump’s insult to Schumer as “a disgusting thing to say,” before Hasan slammed former US President Joe Biden for “questioning the Palestinian death toll” and seeming “indifferent” to the mounting casualties in Gaza as a result of the Israel-Hamas war.
Researchers have shown that casualty figures published by Gaza’s Hamas-run health authorities have been inflated to defame Israel.
Hasan then asked Smith if she believed anti-Palestinian animus motivated the arrest of Columbia University campus agitator Mahmoud Khalil, who led riotous protests against Israel last academic year. The senator agreed, claiming that “at the very least, we should be able to come around the idea that everybody deserves due process in this country.” Smith then suggested that the Trump administration has utilized “authoritarian” tactics to demonize Palestinians and that “we have to stand up to that.”
Zeteo, the network founded by Hasan that published the interview, has positioned itself as a major source of anti-Israel content creation. Hasan, the network’s main host, has declared the ongoing war in Gaza a “genocide” and repeatedly pressured US lawmakers to implement an arms embargo against the Jewish state. Hosts on Zeteo have also downplayed Hamas’s attacks against Israel, oftentimes referring to the terrorist group as a “resistance.”
Moreover, Zeteo’s high production value and elaborate sets have raised questions surrounding its funding sources, with critics alleging it has received money from Qatar. In response, Hasan has denied receiving “any money from foreign governments or foreign citizens,” adding that “every investor in Z is an American citizen [who] has nothing to do with Qatar.”
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Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy
Thomas Barrack at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., November 4, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
i24 News – Lebanon’s daunting social, economic and political issues would not get resolved unless the state persists in the efforts to disarm Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy behind so much of the unrest and destruction, special US envoy Tom Barrack told The National.
“You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical Arabic name for the region sometimes known as “larger Syria.”
The official stressed the need to follow through on promises to disarm the Iranian proxy, which suffered severe blows from Israel in the past year, including the elimination of its entire leadership, and is considered a weakened though still dangerous jihadist outfit.
“There are issues that we have to arm wrestle with each other over to come to a final conclusion. Remember, we have an agreement, it was a great agreement. The problem is, nobody followed it,” he told The National.
Barrack spoke on the heels of a trip to Beirut, where he proposed a diplomatic plan for the region involving the full disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese state.
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Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a cultural forum dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 11, 2024. Photo: Sputnik/Alexander Scherbak/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Iranian leadership that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, the Axios website reported on Saturday. The Russian strongman also relayed the message to his American counterpart, President Donald Trump, the report said.
Iranian news agency Tasnim issued a denial, citing an “informed source” as saying Putin had not sent any message to Iran in this regard.
Also on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that “Any negotiated solution must respect Iran’s right to enrichment. No agreement without recognizing our right to enrichment. If negotiations occur, the only topic will be the nuclear program. No other issues, especially defense or military matters, will be on the agenda.”
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is attending at least one meeting with Israeli officials in Azerbaijan today, despite sources in Damascus claiming he wasn’t attending, a Syrian source close to President Al-Sharaa tells i24NEWS.
The Syrian source stated that this is a series of two or three meetings between the sides, with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also in attendance, along with Ahmed Al-Dalati, the Syrian government’s liaison for security meetings with Israel.
The high-level Israeli delegation includes a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as security and military figures.
The purpose of the meetings is to discuss further details of the security agreement to be signed between Israel and Syria, the Iranian threat in Syria and Lebanon, Hezbollah’s weapons, the weapons of Palestinian militias, the Palestinians camps in Lebanon, and the future of Palestinian refugees from Gaza in the region.
The possibility of opening an Israeli coordination office in Damascus, without diplomatic status, might also be discussed.
The source stated that the decision to hold the meetings in Azerbaijan, made by Israel and the US, is intended to send a message to Iran.
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