WASHINGTON (AP) — A former senior U.S. official who until recently helped monitor human rights compliance by foreign militaries receiving U.S. military aid said Wednesday that he repeatedly observed Israel receiving “special treatment” from U.S. officials when it came to investigating allegations made by Israeli citizens. military abuse of Palestinian civilians.
The accusation comes as the Biden administration faces intense pressure over its ally’s treatment of Palestinian civilians during Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. And it matters who said it: Charles O. Blaha. Before leaving the post in August, he was director of a State Department security and human rights office, deeply involved in helping to ensure that foreign militaries receiving U.S. military assistance comply with U.S. and international humanitarian and human rights laws.
Blaha said his departure from the State Department after decades of service had nothing to do with the U.S.-Israeli security relationship. He is the second senior state official involved in this relationship to claim that when it comes to Israel, the US is reluctant to enforce laws required of foreign militaries receiving US aid.
“My experience is that Israel gets special treatment that no other country gets,” Blaha said. “And in many cases there is unnecessary deference” to Israeli officials when the US raises questions about allegations of Israeli misconduct against the Palestinians, he added.
He spoke to reporters at an event where he and other members of an unofficial, self-formed panel of former senior U.S. civilian and military officials released a report highlighting civilian deaths in specific airstrikes in Gaza. They said there was “convincing and credible” evidence that Israeli forces had acted illegally.
Blaha’s comments echoed those of another State Department official and panelist, Josh Paul. Paul resigned in October as director overseeing arms transfers to other countries’ militaries, in protest over US arms shipments to Israel during the Gaza war.
Asked about the two’s allegations, a State Department spokesman, Vedant Patel, said there is “no double standard, and no special treatment.”
Israeli officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Israel consistently says it follows all laws in using U.S. military aid, investigates allegations against its security forces and holds violators accountable.
Israel has historically been the largest recipient of military aid in the United States, and Biden signed legislation on Wednesday for an additional $26 billion in war aid. But Biden has come under increasing pressure from that support as the number of Palestinian deaths increases.
The latest war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, when Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two militant groups backed by Iran, carried out a cross-border attack that killed 1,200 people in Israel. Israel responded with an offensive in Gaza that local health officials say has caused widespread destruction and killed more than 34,000 people.
In the coming days, the government says it will release its official findings based on investigations into allegations of particularly serious human rights violations by specific Israeli military units. These units would no longer be allowed to receive U.S. military assistance if the U.S. assessment confirms these allegations.
In addition, the Biden administration is expected to announce on May 8 whether it has verified Israel’s assurances that the country will not use U.S. military aid in a manner that violates international law or human rights law. Both Israel’s written assurance and U.S. verification were mandated by a new presidential national security memo Biden issued in February.
The February deal was negotiated between the Biden administration and members of his own Democratic Party, who had insisted that the US make military aid to Israel conditional on better treatment of Palestinian civilians.
Panelists released their report on Wednesday urging the US to scrutinize specific attacks in Gaza, which former officials said should lead them to conclude that Israel was wrong when it affirmed its adherence to the kept laws. If that decision is made, the US could suspend military aid.
Wednesday’s unofficial report points to 17 specific attacks on apartments, refugee camps, private homes, journalists and aid workers, for which former US officials and independent experts say there is no evidence of the type of military target present to justify the high number of civilian casualties.
This includes an October 31 airstrike on an apartment building in Gaza that killed 106 civilians, including 54 children. Israeli officials gave no reason for the attack, and a Human Rights Watch investigation found no evidence of a military target there, the officials said. Israel has said it is investigating in many of the cases.
