(PatriotWise.com)- Senate Republican foreign policy leaders want the Biden administration to withhold almost $1 million in federal money for NGOs investigating alleged human rights abuses in Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.
The State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) will pay nonprofit organizations $987,654 to strengthen accountability and human rights in Israel, the West Bank. Gaza Grant applicants must investigate suspected crimes inside and outside Israel to “collect, archive, and preserve human rights evidence to promote justice, accountability, and civil society-led advocacy initiatives.” This includes legal or security sector abuses and housing, land, and property rights.
Israel’s supporters on Capitol Hill seized on the award as evidence of the Biden administration’s intentions to destroy the Jewish state and promote the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and 11 other Republicans want the Biden administration to stop the funding program and oppose BDS.
The senators said it’s “wholly unacceptable” for the State Department to finance NGOs that delegitimize and isolate Israel. Lawmakers say the State Department uses public money to promote a “new anti-Semitism” pushed by anti-Israel NGOs and human rights groups.
Senior Republicans on Capitol Hill told the Free Beacon that the donation is part of a more considerable effort by the Biden administration to mainstream the BDS movement and damage the U.S.-Israel alliance. GOP and pro-Israel groups have criticized the State Department for recruiting anti-Israel and BDS activists.
A legal watchdog organization has asked the State Department to give over all papers and internal correspondence connected to its decision to authorize almost $1 million in financing.
Cruz told the Free Beacon that the Biden administration is fomenting anti-Israel crises despite its rhetoric.
Cruz stated that the Biden administration spends significant time and energy hunting for excuses to condemn Israel. They’re spending $1 million in taxpayer money to make additional excuses, financing the worldwide campaign to delegitimize and attack Israel. This grant should be revoked.
Cruz and his colleagues claim the NGO award conflicts with the Biden administration’s verbal vows to fight anti-Semitism and delegitimize Israel.
In February, Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed to battle efforts to delegitimize Israel and attempts to isolate Israel in the international community. President Joe Biden has also indicated he opposes BDS and would fight it.
The GOP senators question the administration’s commitment to Israel, claiming the money will feed anti-Israel NGOs and human rights groups whose purpose is to undermine Western support for the Jewish state.
During the 2001 World Conference Against Racism in Durban, which devolved into an anti-Israel hate-fest that the US boycotted, several NGOs prepared to cash in on Biden administration grant money and signed a declaration condemning Israel as “a racist, apartheid state” that committed “crimes against humanity.”
The senators wrote that the proclamation has served as the basis for anti-Semitic attacks by NGOs pushing for economic warfare. European governments and the EU have sponsored NGOs and campaigns for decades. The US condemns such campaigns.
The State Department’s funding to gather accusations of alleged Israeli atrocities shows the Biden administration’s alignment with anti-Israel NGOs. The award was announced months after the Biden administration rejoined the UN Human Rights Council, which has consistently attacked Israel and was boycotted by the Trump administration for anti-Semitism.
“The similarities in vocabulary, reasoning, and inference are startling and frightening,” say legislators.
