Lawsuit accuses State Department of creating loopholes for Israel on military aid and human rights
A lawsuit by a group of Palestinians in Gaza and American relatives accuses the State Department of giving Israel a pass when it comes to a U.S. law meant to limit military aid over human rights abuses
WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department has carved out exceptions for close ally Israel that block a U.S. law restricting foreign military support over human rights abuses, a lawsuit from a group of Palestinians in Gaza and American relatives asserted Tuesday.
Former State Department officials and crafters of the 1997 Leahy law were among those advising and backing the lawsuit.
The lawsuit details the barriers that it accuses the State Department of creating on Israel's behalf to skirt enforcement and asks courts to intervene. That is after campus protests and moves by some lawmakers failed in their goal of limiting U.S. military support to Israel over civilian deaths in Gaza during the war with Hamas.
“It's really a modest set of goals here: There's a U.S. law. We'd like the federal government to adhere to U.S. law,” said Ahmed Moor, a Philadelphia-based Palestinian American who joined the lawsuit on behalf of cousins, uncles and aunts displaced and killed in the 14-month war.
