Independent Senator Bernie Sanders signed Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's letter calling for the suspension of foreign aid to Israel if it proceeds with its bid to apply sovereignty to certain areas in Judea and Samaria.
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The US has given Israel billions in military aid over the past several decades. The latest memorandum of understanding between the two countries, signed in 2016, amounts to some $38 billion over ten years. It has been incorporated into US law, making it all but impossible to suspend it without overwhelming congressional support.
"Should the Israeli government move forward with the planned annexation with this administration's acquiescence, we will work to ensure non-recognition as well as pursue conditions on the $3.8 billion [annually] in US military funding to Israel, including human rights conditions and withholding funds for the offshore procurement of Israeli weapons equal to or exceeding the amount the Israeli government spends annually to fund settlements, as well as the policies and practices that sustain and enable them," the letter reads.
The Trump administration's newly unveiled "Vision for Peace" stipulates that Washington will endorse an Israeli decision to apply sovereignty to about 30% of Judea and as long as Israel commits to holding good-faith negotiations with the Palestinians and to avoid construction in certain areas that could become part of a Palestinian state. That state will only be established four years after negotiations begin and only if the Palestinians fully renounce terrorism and carry out major reforms, and only if they are no longer considered a threat to Israel.
The Israeli government plans to move ahead with the sovereignty bid, but it has yet to make an official declaration or enact laws that would change the status quo.
Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), André Carson (D-Ind.), Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Jesús "Chuy" Garcia (D-Ill.), and Danny Davis (D-Ill.) have added their signatures to the letter.
The leading pro-Israel lobby in Washington, the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) rebuked the lawmakers for the letter earlier this week.
The organization tweeted that it "opposes the letter being circulated by [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez] ... which explicitly threatens the US-Israel relationship in ways that would damage American interests, risk the security of Israel and make a two-state solution less likely."
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