As we pass the first anniversary of the start of the Israel-Gaza war, the breakout of a regional conflict in the Middle East looms stronger than ever as Iran and Lebanon exchanged hundreds of ballistic missiles with Israel this past week.
This additional outbreak of hostility comes at a time when American calls for change are at an all-time high, with 61% of respondents to a CBS poll voting in favor of halting the sending of U.S. weapons to Israel. The Biden administration, however, has reaffirmed their support for Israel’s defense in light of the rapid spread of the conflict to Iran and Lebanon.
One man was killed in the West Bank when Iran launched at least 180 missiles into Israel last Tuesday. “Iran made a big mistake tonight and will pay for it,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in a recording shortly following the attacks. The attack was said by Iran to be in response to a series of Israeli airstrikes on a set of apartment complexes in Beirut, for which Israel claimed to be targeting members of Hezbollah.
The strikes left 6 people dead and injured 91 others, among the dead being Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. So far, 492 people have been killed since Israel began its ground invasion into Southern Lebanon, and over 1,500 have been wounded. Over 2,100 Lebanese citizens have been killed by Israel since last October.
After further investigation, Israeli defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced this Tuesday that Hashem Safieddine, who was intended to be Nasrallah’s replacement, was also killed, in addition to who Prime Minister Netanyahu claims was “the replacement of [Nasrallah’s] replacement.”
Israel claims the strikes to be a victory as officials believe that these assassinations have crippled Hezbollah and their intentions to continue the conflict, with Prime Minister Netanyahu asserting that it is “weaker than it has ever been for many, many years.” Just last Tuesday, however, Hezbollah launched another barrage of rockets from Lebanon into Israel for the third day in a row, this time hitting the city of Haifa, injuring 12 people.
Netanyahu then addressed the people of Lebanon in a video telling them that they “have an opportunity to save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza.”
This proposed approach to combat Hezbollah, which, according to Israeli officials, would mirror the scale of tragedy seen in the approach used to combat Hamas fighters in Gaza, is supported by U.S. officials such as U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller. “We support these encouragements to degrade Hezbollah’s infrastructure”, Miller announced in a press briefing Tuesday, despite maintaining that the U.S. ultimately does “want to see a diplomatic resolution”.
The Biden administration has consistently avowed loyalty to Israel and its self-defense since the start of the war last October, with military aid packages to the country amounting to a record $17.9 billion in the matter of a year.
Israel is by far the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign aid, totaling around $310 in both economic and military assistance since its founding in 1948. Yet the U.S. began to primarily fund military assistance to Israel during the years of the First and Second Intifadas in Palestine in 1987 and 2000, as well as the start of the Israel-Hezbollah War in 2006.
Furthermore, in 2018, the U.S. enacted with Israel a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) that pledges $38 billion to be given to the country throughout ten years for Foreign Military Financing, and an additional $500 million annually for cooperative missile programs, such as the Iron Dome.
In light of the growing conflict, the US has given over $14 billion more in emergency military aid to Israel, with the MOU requiring that only $3.8 billion be dispersed annually.
Yet as U.S. donations to Israel continue to climb, public support for both the ongoing war and Prime Minister Netanyahu is steadily declining, widening the gap between American public opinion and the actions of the US government.
Recent polls from the Pew Research Center indicate that a majority (53%) of Americans retain little to no confidence in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s ability “to do the right thing regarding world affairs”, and a quarter of respondents reported having no confidence in him at all.
The growing majority of Americans who are calling for a significant reduction in military aid to Israel and expressing disapproval of Prime Minister Netanyahu's handling of the Middle East conflict are not likely to see a change anytime soon. Donald Trump as well as Vice President Kamala Harris, the two front-running U.S. presidential candidates, have both insisted support for Israel’s military endeavors and defense.
Therefore, many Americans are left wondering why the U.S. persists in relentlessly backing the dragging on of a war that’s amassed such international critical attention and calls for a truce. Nearly 42,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since the start of the war, and tens of thousands more face risks of famine and disease due to the lack of aid allowed into Gaza, and the ICJ (International Court of Justice) passed motions months ago deeming that Israel’s conduct in and occupation of Gaza violate international law.
Countless international aid organizations, such as Save the Children, Amnesty International, and the Mercy Corps, along with over 240 others, have called for an immediate ceasefire in the region, citing grievous humanitarian concerns. A further 121 countries in the UN (United Nations) have voted in favor of a ceasefire, while its chief said in a statement last month that he's “never seen” such a level of “death and destruction” seen happening in Gaza.
Scholarly associations across the U.S., such as the AAUP (American Association of Professors) and the ASSEC (American Studies Association Executive Committee) have expressed “deep concern at the destruction in Israel and call for understanding in the “historical, political, and regional” contexts in which these conflicts are taking place. Over 1,000 professors on the East Coast alone signed an open letter calling for a ceasefire
Protests have continued to erupt across the U.S. and college campuses, spanning from New York City to San Francisco. Well over 100,000 Americans marched to Washington D.C. at the onset of the war, demanding that the Biden administration initiate an immediate ceasefire.
Yet, these innumerable demonstrations have not been met with much resolve by leaders, with the recent quarrel between Israel and Hezbollah fighters in Iran and Lebanon making talks of a ceasefire seem more distant than ever.
