A national veterans’ organization on 30 September called for a grand jury to indict Department of State (DOS) Secretary Antony Blinken and the U.S. Ambassador to Israel for lying to Congress, violating the Export Control Act, the Genocide Prevention Act and the U.S. War Crimes Act.
In a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice, Veterans For Peace (VFP) cited published reports showing that internal DOS emails and the statements of two senior State Department officials showed Blinken lied when he issued his “Report to Congress” stating, “…we do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance.” (p. 32)
ProPublica revealed a series of State Department emails, internal memos and meeting notes in which officials agreed Israel was blocking humanitarian aid which should trigger Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act which prohibits weapons shipments to any country the President has been told is blocking humanitarian aid.
In addition to the internal documents ProPublica included, from previous reports, that Samantha Power, Director of USAID and Stacy Gilbert, a former USAID bureau head had both voiced objections to Blinken’s findings as the report was being prepared.
Power stated that the looming famine in Gaza was the result of Israel’s “arbitrary denial, restriction, and impediments of U.S. humanitarian assistance” and called it “one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes in the world.”
Gilbert, former senior civil military adviser in USAID’s refugees bureau, resigned in May after the DOS “Report to Congress” was released. She said then, “There is abundant evidence showing Israel is responsible for blocking aid. To deny this is absurd and shameful. That report and its flagrant untruths will haunt us.”
VFP human rights counsel Terry Lodge said, “The Israeli military continues detonating massive bombs in southern Beirut – bombs they would not possess but for Antony Blinken’s repeated violations of federal laws aimed at halting human rights and war crimes violations. Members of the Biden administration unwilling to rein in Israel and furthering its genocide in Gaza need to go to jail.”
VFP President Susan Schnall stated, “Just last week, the U.S. gave Israel another $8.7 billion in weapons to kill and wound innocent Palestinians – in addition to the $3.8 billion we give them every year. This ‘Genocide Tax’ is a theft from millions of Americans who have none of the health insurance every Israeli enjoys; from millions of Americans living in horrific housing while Israel builds thousands of upscale homes on land stolen from Palestinians; from millions of young Americans can’t afford college because America’s top priorities are weapons and death, not human needs.”
VFP’s letter seeking an indictment of Blinken follows one to the DOS Inspector-General February 9, 2024, alleging that Blinken and DOS officials had already violated a series of existing U.S. laws and international treaties by transferring arms to Israel, by quoting a sworn declaration from Josh Paul. Mr. Paul, former Director of Congressional and Public Affairs in the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, attested to significant failures by the Department in a declaration filed in the Defense for Children International—Palestine lawsuit.
VFP’s February letter was never responded to nor acknowledged.
ProPublica also reported that
- The head of the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration had determined that Israel was blocking humanitarian aid and that the Foreign Assistance Act should be triggered to freeze almost $830 million in taxpayer dollars earmarked for weapons and bombs to Israel,
- DOS Deputy Assistant Secretary, Mira Resnick, and the DOS acting legal adviser, Richard Visek, pressured that bureau and others to agree that Israel was not withholding U.S. humanitarian aid
This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by Veterans for Peace.