by AKBAR SHAHID AHMED
Congressional aides told HuffPost a May 8 letter from Israel’s ambassador was “stunning,” “embarrassing” and “verging on offensive.”
One week after Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. sent dozens of Democrats in the House of Representatives an unprecedented rebuke, congressional staff say they’re still fuming over the letter, a note that accused lawmakers of aiding the Palestinian militant group Hamas, of misrepresenting Israeli policy and of inappropriately trying to influence President Joe Biden.
The situation reflects how intense tensions between the Israeli government and many influential Democrats have become as Israel escalates its U.S.-backed military campaign in Gaza and conditions darken for the 2.3 million Palestinians there, congressional aides told HuffPost. They cast the move from the Israeli diplomat, Michael Herzog, as a sign of both Israel’s disregard for U.S. concerns about matters like humanitarian aid for Palestinians and its lack of respect for members of Congress, including many who are generally supportive of the U.S.-Israel alliance.
“It really is a stunning document,” said one Democratic staffer. “The tone of this letter is not reflective of the fact that the U.S. is the primary guarantor of Israel’s security. An unaware reader would assume that Israel is the superpower in this relationship and the U.S. the recipient of aid.”
Multiple parts of Herzog’s message were “verging on offensive,” argued another Democratic aide, pointing as an example to an assertion that Congress is overlooking the brutal Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
“It seems that Hamas’s massive invasion on October 7th, its ruthless massacre of Israelis and the kidnapping of hostages to Gaza have been too easily forgotten,” the ambassador wrote in his message, which Politico first reported on.
HuffPost this week obtained copies of the letter received by multiple lawmakers.
Sent on May 8, Herzog’s missive represents the Israeli response to an earlier May 3 letter from House Democrats to Biden arguing Israel is violating a U.S. law that outlaws sending weapons to countries blocking American aid. Led by Reps. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) and Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.), both moderates, that letter was signed by 88 Democrats, the most who’ve so far signed a statement alleging Israel is breaking the law. It was released days before the Biden administration issued its own opinion denying that is the case. (No Republicans signed the May 3 letter.)
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