Washington, DC – On October 22, the National Iranian American Council joined more than 110 organizations in sending a letter to the United States Senate urging support for the four Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRD) introduced by Senators Sanders, Welch, and Merkley to restrict specific, offensive arms sales to Israel, which will be receiving a vote this November. As noted by the sponsors, there is significant evidence indicating that Israel has used these American weapons to violate international law, necessitating action to prevent additional transfers in order to save lives.
As Israel continues its war in Gaza, which has expanded into Lebanon and could soon expand into Iran, the proposed resolutions not only reinforce existing U.S. law not to transfer weapons when they are likely to be used to commit humanitarian violations, but also serve as one of many steps to ultimately ending the suffering of this war and threats of further expansion.
As stated in the letter:
“Continued arms transfers to the Israeli government are contrary to U.S. law and the Biden administration’s own arms transfer policy, which include restrictions on arms transfers to any country based on human rights, international humanitarian law, and humanitarian assistance criteria. For example, U.S. law prohibits military aid to governments that restrict the delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance. As demonstrated by the National Security Memorandum 20 process, the Biden administration has not complied with these standards.”
Fellow signers of the letter include Amnesty International USA, the Center for Civilians in Conflict, the Friends Committee on National Legislation, the Center for International Policy, Oxfam America, IfNotNow, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, Win Without War, and others.
The full text of the letter is included below:
Israel JRDs Sign On Letter (1)Back to top