Infusion of arms

The US House of Representatives passed long-delayed bipartisan legislation providing $87 billion in largely military aid to Israel and Ukraine despite strong opposition from the Republican party, which has the majority of seats in the House, and rival Democratic party progressives. The bill was sent to the Democrat-majority Senate for approval and President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

The bill allocates $26.4 billion in aid to Israel: $4 billion for its Iron Dome and David’s Sling missile defence systems, and $1.2 billion for the Iron Beam defence system, $4.4 billion to replenish military items, $3.5 billion for the procurement of advanced weapons systems, and for the transfer of US military supplies to Israel from stocks held in other countries. The law also includes $9.2 billion emergency food, shelter, and basic services, some of which could, allegedly, go to Palestinians in Gaza impacted by Israel’s deadly and devastating war on the coastal strip.

Ukraine will receive $61 billion: $13.4 billion to replenish US stockpiles, $13.9 billion for the procurement of defence technology, $13.7 billion to buy additional defence materiel for Ukraine, $7.3 billion for US operations in Europe and $9 billion in economic assistance in “forgivable loans” (grants). The arms provided by these bills will prolong wars which neither Israel nor Ukraine can “win.”

In nearly seven months, Israel has not achieved the aims of its Gaza offensive, pursued by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. He has not defeated Hamas which attacked southern Israel on October 7th. Whenever the Israeli army pulls back from an area in Gaza believed to have been cleared of Hamas fighters, they return to harass Israeli troops and reestablish some control. The Israeli military has not secured the return of 129 of the 250 hostages Hamas seized during its raid.

Instead, the Netanyahu government has created a humanitarian catastrophe for Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians by waging war on them and sowimg violent chaos in the West Bank by storming Palestinian cities, towns, villages, and refugee camps. More than 34,000 Gazans have been killed, 75,000 wounded, and thousands disappeared beneath the rubble of their homes. At least 487 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem by Israeli soldiers and settlers and nearly 5,000 have been injured. Some 9,500 Palestinians are in Israeli prisons, according to the Addameer Prisoner Support group based in Ramallah.

While backed by most Israelis, Israel’s onslaught on Gaza and the West Bank has proven false Israel’s claims to victimhood and superior morality, undermined its global standing, and alienated millions of people around the world. Hundreds of thousands have taken part in protest demonstrations and initiated efforts to hold Israel accountable. South Africa has lodged a case accusing Israel of “genocide” with the International Court of Justice; Turkey, Jordan, and Ireland have pledged to provide documents to strengthen this charge. Some Israelis fear that external condemnation and isolation threatens Israel’s every existence. Israel has depended on foreign political, economic, and military aid for 75-years and cannot afford to alienate its sponsors. While the US can be counted on to remain loyal, others may not be as tolerant of Israeli misdeeds.

From the outset of the Gaza war, the Biden administration has been seen as Israel’s accomplice in the slaughter, displacement, and now starvation of Gazans and in Israel’s abuse of West Bank Palestinians. By pushing for an infusion of arms, Biden has defied legislators in his own Democratic party and thousands of voters who have called on the administration to halt the provision of arms to Israel until it ends the war in Gaza and allows the free flow of food, water, and medicine into the strip.

Similarly, the administration’s provision of arms to Kyiv prolongs a war which Ukraine cannot win, will kill more soldiers and civilians and increase the devastation of that country. During the first two years of warfare, 10,582 civilians died and nearly 20,000 were wounded. Around 6.5 million have fled Ukraine and 3.7 million have been displaced within the country out of a total pre-war population of 38 million.

Writing in February 2024 on the website of the Washington-based Qunicy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, George Beeb and Anatol Lieven dismissed the notion held by the US and its NATO allies that “a negotiated end to the war is neither possible nor desirable.” They argue, “The war is not trending toward a stable stalemate, but toward Ukraine’s eventual collapse.” They said Russia has adopted a strategy that is “gradually exhausting Ukraine’s forces, draining [US] military stocks, and sapping the West’s political resolve.” The contended, “Ukraine’s best hope lies in a negotiated settlement that protects its security, minimizes the risks of renewed attacks or escalation, and promotes broader stability in Europe and the world.” They recommended that “the US join China, Brazil, and influential Global South actors to initiate backchannel discussions over Russia’s “concerns about NATO expansion [which led Moscow to invade] in the context of a Ukraine settlement.”

In my view, this could end NATO’S march eastwards, ensure Ukraine’s neutrality, economic recovery, and independence, minus Crimea and the Russian majority Donbas region which Russia would keep.

However, the Biden administration has opted for war in Ukraine as well as Gaza. Furthermore, the administration is drawing up another package of assistance for Ukraine so that once the new bill is adopted and deliveries begin more will be in the pipeline.

Ahead of the lawmakers’ adoption of the military assistance bills, armchair warrior US President Biden argued, “While this bill sends military equipment to Ukraine, it spends the money right here in the United States of America in places like Arizona, where the Patriot missiles are built; and Alabama, where the Javelin missiles are built; and Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Texas, where artillery shells are made.” Defence contractors are eagerly awaiting orders on behalf of both Ukraine and Israel.

During his 1961 farewell presidential address, ex-General Dwight Eisenhower warned against the “acquisition of unwarranted influence.. by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”

Photo: Reuters