The Spanish founder of WCK, Jose Andres, accused the Israelis of targeting the aid workers because the charity had been coordinating their movements with Israeli authorities, making them fully aware of their movements. Mr. Andres accused Israel of targeting the aid workers “systematically, car by car. Taking a hiatus from killing mostly women and children (and now aid workers) in Gaza, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s head of a coalition government including ultra-right wing nationalists, took two days off for hernia surgery.
Meanwhile, the White House refuses to say whether Israel will face any consequences for this latest outrage. The ship bringing the aid to the Palestinians unloaded 100 tonnes from a total of 340 tonnes but given the killing of colleagues and the impossibility of any delivery of the remaining cargo, then returned to Cyprus with 240 tonnes still on board. Why should innocent women and children with no definite connection to Hamas (who led the October 7, 2023 attack in Israel) suffer the consequences?
President Biden said he was “outraged” by the attack on aid workers. He called for a swift investigation that “must bring accountability.” He added that bringing aid was “so difficult” because Israel had “not done enough to protect Palestinian civilians.”
In one form or another, other world leaders are questioning Israeli’s actions in a similar way. The Spanish in particular because WCK founder, chef Jose Andres, is a Spanish-American.
Despite all the outrage, there is no indication that President Joe Biden will withhold, suspend or restrict military aid to Israel that in effect has killed over 37,000 Palestinian civilians. It is part of a ten-year commitment to supply $38 billion or $3.3 billion per year (more than any other country) in aid to Israel, and Mr. Biden is a staunch supporter.
U.S. officials are also hiding behind the fact that weapons transfers were approved before this Israel-Hamas war began. It may be so but others say there are all kinds of ways of slowing down the process.
For example, Biden’s fellow Democrat, Sen. Chris Van Hollen from Maryland said last Sunday, “We have a situation where the Netanyahu government continues to rebuff the president of the United States time and time again, ignoring reasonable requests … And what do we do? We say we’re going to send more bombs.”
The fact is Biden is running for election in November 2024, just eight months hence, and he fears not Netanyahu but the vociferous, domestic Jewish lobby and its influence.
Difficult choices for the president with polls showing declining popularity as events continue to unfold in Gaza and people become increasingly horrified. He can but hope it will blow over by summer when election fever begins to grip.