US Press
Murphy says he cannot back arms to Israel under this government
Graphic: Times of Palestine
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Senator Chris Murphy, the Connecticut Democrat who sits on the foreign relations committee, said on Sunday that Israel's government is not aligned with American national security objectives, the Washington outlet The Hill reported.
Speaking on NBC's Meet the Press, Murphy said he "cannot support this government's actions", which "are not aligned with U.S. national security objectives". He cited the conduct of the war in Gaza and the rhetoric around the war with Iran.
He went further on the question that decides American policy in practice. "Until we have a different government and a different policy in Israel, it's going to be hard for people like me that want a Palestinian state, side by side with a Jewish state in the region, to support continuing to send arms to Israel."
Murphy was answering Benjamin Netanyahu, who told his cabinet the same day that for as long as he holds elected office "a Palestinian state will not be established, neither in Gaza nor in Judea and Samaria" — the Israeli official name for the occupied West Bank.
For readers weighing what has actually changed, the distinction matters. Murphy is one senator stating a condition, not a vote taken; the ten-year memorandum of understanding that governs American military aid to Israel is untouched, and Congress left for recess on Saturday.
What is new is that the sentence is now said plainly on a Sunday programme by a senior member of the president's opposition, and tied explicitly to Palestinian statehood.
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