California Democrats, Biden pressure Israel for Gaza ceasefire after aid worker killings
More California Democrats are pushing for a ceasefire and potentially withholding military aid to Israel in its war against Hamas after the killings of seven food aid workers in Gaza.
But Republicans are pushing in the other direction, planning to take a vote in the House, where they have a slim majority, later this week opposing any ceasefire.
The Democrats’ tonal shift comes as President Joe Biden for the first time threatened to pull back on U.S. support if Israel did not change its approach to protect civilians and aid workers in Gaza in a stern phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last Thursday. During the 30-minute call, he pressured Israeli authorities to reach an immediate ceasefire deal.
Since then:
▪ Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, said, “The status quo must change.”
“Notwithstanding Hamas’ brutal attacks on October 7th, we have to achieve an immediate ceasefire, return all the hostages, and at the same time hold Hamas accountable,” Costa said in a statement Friday. “President Biden has for months been working with Israel and other partners involved to negotiate a peace agreement and this week increased pressure on Israel to do the right thing. As our ally, Israel must do its part.”
Costa, who tends to be more moderate, had voted in a bloc of 46 House Democrats and 204 Republicans for an Israeli military aid package in February. The measure failed to get the two-thirds support it needed to pass out of the House, which at the time had 219 Republicans and 212 Democrats. And in November, he was one of 22 Democrats who voted to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat and sole Palestinian American in Congress, over her remarks about the Israel-Hamas War.
▪ Rep. Ami Bera, D-Elk Grove, said Sunday that having listened to the stories of Israeli families and Palestinian-Americans who lost loved ones on and since Oct. 7, “It was clear to me then as it is now that we need a different path forward.”
“We must secure a negotiated and sustained ceasefire to reunite the hostages with their families and scale up the delivery of essential humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza,” Bera posted to social media.
▪ Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, also urged a pause in the hostilities.
“I support an immediate and sustained ceasefire to ensure the return of all hostages and do everything possible to allow for the safe delivery of maximum humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people,” she told The Bee Monday. “Only then can we lay a path towards a future where Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side with peace and dignity.”
Both Matsui and Bera supported a temporary ceasefire last November.
▪ Forty Democrats, primarily progressive ones, signed a letter to Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday asking them to reconsider sending arms to Israel unless officials there take measures to mitigate harms to civilians and aid workers in Gaza. Among California signatories was former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, and Barbara Lee, D-Oakland.
“While we appreciate your administration’s recent efforts to increase the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza, these efforts will not be sufficient to meet the extraordinary need on the ground,” the letter read. “The Israeli government’s restrictions on the flow of aid into Gaza, coupled with the death and grave harm that aid workers have faced during this war, are compounding this hunger crisis.”
▪ Rep John Duarte, R-Modesto, told The Bee Monday that the Oct. 7 attack necessitates Israel’s continued pursuit to root out Hamas in Gaza, and that the “tragedy and death of this effort is the responsibility of Hamas and of their supporters in Iran.”
“Nations living peacefully alongside their neighbors is important. Standing with our allies when they are attacked is the best and, sometimes, only way to assure that peace and diplomacy are the paths taken in the future,” Duarte said. “President Biden should more clearly support our ally Israel, even when inadvertent tragedy strikes. The United States expects and has received the same.”
Duarte was one of four Republicans who bucked party and voted “no” on censuring Tlaib. He cited free speech grounds but still denounced what she said.
▪ Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, told The Bee on Tuesday, “The loss of innocent civilian lives on both sides of this conflict is a tragedy, and I support all efforts to provide humanitarian aid. Hamas terrorists started this conflict six months ago, and could end it today by releasing all Israeli and American hostages. Israel has a right to exist and defend itself against Hamas terrorists.”
▪ Alexandra Lavy, a spokeswoman for Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, wrote to The Bee on Tuesday that he thinks a ceasefire can happen only after Hamas surrenders and returns all hostages. “Hamas conducting a war from beneath the homes and kitchens of citizens deserve all the credit for loss of life, not the ridiculous assertions made against Israel merely defending against these sources of attack,” she wrote. “Ceasefires work when Hamas ceases firing.”
“He will not place conditions on our ally as to how they stop future terrorist attacks and will continue to support military armaments including Iron Dome missile Defense System,” Lavy wrote. “Congressman LaMalfa has great concerns about the backtracking of the Biden White House and the continued pro-Iran/Muslim Brotherhood influences at State Department.”
The Bee reached out to the offices of California’s senators, nine Central Valley and Sacramento-area House members, the Senate candidates and the challengers in the two toss-up Central Valley House races on Monday. The Bee heard back from six House members between Monday and Tuesday.
The Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza has divided California voters, according to a Berkeley IGS Poll conducted in early January.
Younger voters tended to sympathize more with Palestinians while older voters leaned toward Israelis. Two-thirds of queried Republicans said Israel should keep fighting until Hamas is no longer viable while 55% of Democrats said that Israel should agree to a ceasefire even if Hamas remains a force in Gaza.
The poll, in part funded by the Los Angeles Times, queried 8,199 California registered voters and has a sampling error of plus-or-minus 1.5%.
California’s Jewish community has long had a warm relationship with its members of Congress. About 3.1% of the state’s population, or 1.23 million people, is Jewish, slightly above the 2.2% nationally, according to the American-Israel Cooperative Enterprise, a nonprofit organization promoting ties between the two countries.
The Palestinian population is estimated at 25,989, or 0.07%, according to the World Population Review.
Increased calls for Israel to shift strategies over the last week came after airstrikes killed seven World Central Kitchen workers in the Gaza Strip last Monday. Three days later, Biden warned Netanyahu on a call that if Israel did not take swift action for commitments in humanitarian aid and protecting civilian lives in Gaza, the U.S. might change course on future aid in Israel’s war against Hamas.
Biden also pushed for the Israeli government to work toward an prolonged ceasefire deal that would bring hostages home and improve the situation in Gaza. It builds on what the White House has called for for weeks — at least a six-week ceasefire — but officials had previously squared blame on Hamas for blocking.
“The president made clear that absent changes in the protection of civilians on the ground, absent changes to the volume of humanitarian assistance getting in, absent any movement on a cease-fire that will allow hostages to get out and more aid to get in, absent a calming-down,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Thursday, “that he will have to reconsider his own policy choices with respect to Gaza.”
Within hours of the call, the Israeli government committed to opening new humanitarian aid routes. And in the following days, more Democrats started pressing for tougher accountability on Israel’s approach and joined in Biden’s call for at least a temporary ceasefire.
The Israel Defense Forces said Friday that the killing of the World Central Kitchen workers was a “grave mistake stemming from a serious failure.”
Israel said it withdrew most troops from southern Gaza this weekend, six months after the deadly attacks by Hamas militants.
Some House progressives have called for a ceasefire since October.
Meanwhile House Republicans are expected to bring up a measure this week slamming Biden’s call for an immediate ceasefire during the discussion with Netanyahu. The resolution, which does not have the force of law, is likely to go nowhere in the Democratic-run Senate.
The three-page resolution authored by Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Florida, “opposes efforts to place one-sided pressure on Israel with respect to Gaza, including calls for an immediate cease-fire ...” It also “reaffirms Israel’s right to self-defense.”
About 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 hostages taken during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, according to Israeli authorities. About 130 hostages remain unaccounted for, with some known to be dead.
More than 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza, where civilians are facing widespread hunger. At least 196 humanitarian workers have been killed in the West Bank and Gaza since October, according to the U.N.
This story was originally published April 9, 2024 at 4:00 AM.
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