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When Israel’s parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of dropping any pretense that it wasn’t an apartheid state, some of the Jewish state’s most ardent American defenders couldn’t even be bothered to pay attention.
“I haven’t been following it closely,” said Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who’s made defending Israel a key part of his political career.
The response was one of a mixed bag among both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill interviewed by The Intercept, but Fetterman’s tone was the most strident in its lack of regard.
Despite its most powerful ally and arms dealer’s stated preference for a two-state solution, Israel’s Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of a symbolic measure to annex the occupied West Bank on Wednesday.
The nonbinding resolution, which was advanced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition and passed 71-13 in the Knesset, won’t legally change the reality in the West Bank — but it marks an escalation in the Israeli government’s efforts to annex the territory.
Four Democrats in the Senate and House who spoke to The Intercept condemned the Israeli government’s vote. Others said they hadn’t been following the issue. Fetterman was one of three senators who told The Intercept on Thursday they were unaware of the Knesset vote. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, declined to comment.
The resolution in the Knesset, or Parliament, called to apply “Israeli sovereignty, law, judgment and administration to all the areas of Jewish settlement of all kinds in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley” — which is how most Israelis refer to the West Bank.
Currently, 3 million Palestinians reside in the West Bank, alongside over 500,000 Israeli settlers, who’ve established settlements in the occupied territory in violation of international law.
No Denying Apartheid
Annexation of the West Bank would be at odds with the U.S. official policy goal for two states — one for Palestinians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, and one state for Israel comprising its pre-1967 borders.
The two-state solution has won official backing from successive presidents dating back to the late 1990s — except for Donald Trump — to assuage concerns over Israel having permanent control over millions of Palestinians without full civil rights.
Though the conditions already exist — there is a growing consensus that Israel in an apartheid state — making this control officially permanent would make apartheid indisputable.
Both Democratic and Republican administrations have repeatedly undermined the possibility of a two-state solution by arming Israel as it continues to attack Palestinian people and seize their territory, which lawmakers in Congress have made excuses for.
As public sentiment turns against Israel, however, with voters increasingly opposing the Netanyahu government’s genocide in Gaza, some members of Congress have been more willing to criticize the Israeli regime.
Some Condemnations
Though President Joe Biden claimed to be interested in a two-state solution, his administration continued policies such as keeping the U.S. Embassy in occupied Jerusalem, which experts view as undermining the possibility of an independent Palestinian state that includes the West Bank.
In his second term, Trump escalated his efforts to thwart the possibility of a sovereign Palestinian state. On Thursday, State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott told reporters during a press briefing that the U.S. would not be attending a United Nations conference on a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. And Trump has repeatedly called for Palestinians in Gaza to be relocated and for the region to be turned into a luxury resort.
Fetterman’s response to the vote stood in stark contrast to the four other Democratic members of Congress.
“The Knesset’s vote to symbolically annex the West Bank is not just reckless — it’s a betrayal of the values that have long underpinned America’s support for Israel. I’ve visited the West Bank. I’ve spoken with people whose lives are shaped by fear and violence,” wrote Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., in a statement. “A negotiated two‑state solution is the only path to lasting peace and true security for both Israelis and Palestinians. This vote rejects that path.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders I-Vt., on the other hand, told The Intercept that now is the time for the U.S. to push back on Netanyahu’s government’s “racist, reactionary” policies.
“Israel is now run by right-wing extremists who are in Gaza starving children and shooting people lining up for food, and now in the West Bank, we’ve seen vigilantism,” said Sanders. “I think the time is now for the United States government to make clear that we are not going to continue to support these racist, reactionary policies of the Netanyahu government.”
Sen. Tim Kaine. D-Va., argued that this would harm peace talks and threaten long-term regional stability.
“It’s going to hurt Israel in the long run,” said Kaine. “You got a peace discussion that’s going on right now where Arab nations are saying we want to be peaceful partners with our neighbor, Israel. But this also means that we need to have a future for Palestine as was promised to Palestinians in the U.N. resolution in 1947, and we’re not willing to find this regional peace unless you agree to do that.”
Kaine argued that the Knesset vote further isolates Israel in the region.
“It looks like the Knesset is just shutting the door in the face of Arab partners who want to try to work together to promote regional stability,” he said. “There is a credible opportunity for Israel to be less isolated in the neighborhood, but a vote like this makes it harder, not easier.”
Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., told The Intercept that the vote speaks to the broader “endgame” for the Netanyahu administration.
“For Netanyahu and his administration, annexation and control have always been the endgame,” said Ramirez, in a statement. “We must end the U.S.’s complicity in the Netanyahu Administration’s regime of terror. Congress must do its oversight job, demand an end to the blockade and pass Block the Bombs.”
The post Israeli Parliament Votes for Making Apartheid Official. Fetterman: “I Haven’t Been Following It.” appeared first on The Intercept.
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