The Biden-Harris administration confirmed on Tuesday that it threatened to cut off aid to Israel’s military, including arms shipments, if the Jewish state does not boost the delivery of humanitarian aid into the battle-torn Gaza Strip. The threats came in a Sunday letter that gives Israel one month to do so, meaning any action would not come until after the presidential election.
The missive, which Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin sent to Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant, leaked early Tuesday and made the rounds on social media before the State Department confirmed its accuracy and chastised Israel for allegedly withholding humanitarian aid from Gaza.
"This was a letter we considered a private diplomatic communication, and we did not intend to make it public from our side, but now that it is public, I’m happy to confirm it," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Tuesday afternoon. "We hope that Israel makes the changes that the secretary outlined."
The revelation marks another public rift between the United States and its crucial ally amid a brutal yearlong war and a contested election season that has seen Democratic voters galvanize behind efforts to cut off Israel’s access to U.S. arms. The threats are unlikely to satisfy those voters, who have long pushed the Biden-Harris administration to impose an immediate arms embargo on the Jewish state. They are also certain to anger pro-Israel Americans.
When asked if the letter was part of a ploy by the Biden-Harris administration to publicly embarrass Israel and shore up support with the Democratic Party’s anti-Israel flank, Miller said the upcoming presidential election "was not a factor at all."
"What we have seen over the past few months is that the level of humanitarian assistance has not been sustained," Miller said. "In fact, it has fallen by over 50 percent from where it was at its peak. The secretary, along with Secretary Austin, thought it was appropriate to make clear to the government of Israel that there are changes that they need to make again."
Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), a member of the Senate Armed Services committee, disagreed. He described the pressure campaign as "a politically driven excuse to pressure our ally to ratchet down its campaign against the Iranian regime and its terrorist proxies," according to a Wednesday letter sent to the White House and obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
Blinken and Austin's missive to Gallant, which the Pentagon also confirmed as authentic, communicated the American government’s "deep concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza," ordering Israel to immediately take "sustained action" aimed at boosting aid operations. A failure to do so, Blinken and Austin threatened, would trigger a U.S. law that bars arms sales to any nation proven to be withholding humanitarian goods during a time of war.
According to Letter from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on October 13th, which was presented to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer; it was stated that the United States is Concerned about… pic.twitter.com/VMb4OH5VFX
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) October 15, 2024
The letter also includes a list of demands for Israel: Enabling "a minimum" of 350 aid trucks per day, instituting "humanitarian pauses across Gaza," and boosting security for various aid sites set up in the territory. Hamas is known to steal humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip, and while U.S. officials and international organizations once warned of an "imminent" famine in Gaza—effectively accusing Israel of using starvation as a war tactic—the U.N. entity that evaluates food insecurity later revised that assessment.
Miller would not directly address the threats to enact an Israeli arms embargo, saying, "There are implications under U.S. law, U.S. policy that I’m not going to speak to here."
The letter comes just months after the United States and Israel clashed over the same issue, with the Biden-Harris administration accusing the Jewish state of weaponizing humanitarian aid to starve Gaza’s population. During the April spat, the U.S. also threatened to hold Israeli arms sales hostage if Israel did not improve conditions on the ground.
"You have to put this letter in the context of our ongoing and long-lasting communications and concerns about the levels of humanitarian assistance that have made it to Palestinian civilians," Miller said.
At the Pentagon, spokeswoman Sabrina Singh deflected questions about the letter, telling reporters it "was personal, private correspondence" and not meant to be released "for public consumption." Singh would only characterize the contests as "expressing concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza."