Nancy Pelosi Signs Letter Urging Biden To Halt Weapons Transfers to Israel

The letter says arms shipments should be paused until a full investigation into the killing of World Central Kitchen Workers is completed

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) joined a group of House Democrats in a letter urging President Biden to halt weapons transfers to Israel until there’s a full investigation into the Israeli killing of seven workers for the World Central Kitchen.

Pelosi’s signature is notable since she’s been a staunch supporter of Israel throughout her long career in Congress. In 2018, Pelosi vowed that if “this Capitol crumbled to the ground, the one thing that would remain is our commitment to our aid – I don’t even call it aid – to our cooperation with Israel.” Her signature could be part of a Democratic push against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer recently called for elections in Israel.

The letter was signed by a total of 40 House Democrats and called for the US to halt arms shipments to Israel until a full investigation into the killing of WCK workers was complete.

The letter reads: “In light of this incident, we strongly urge you to reconsider your recent decision to authorize the transfer of a new arms package to Israel, and to withhold this and any future offensive arms transfers until a full investigation into the airstrike is completed. If this strike is found to have violated US or international law, we urge you to continue withholding these transfers until those responsible are held accountable. We also urge you to withhold these transfers if Israel fails to sufficiently mitigate harm to innocent civilians in Gaza, including aid workers, and if it fails to facilitate -or arbitrarily denies or restricts – the transport and delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza.”

Israel has killed over 220 aid workers throughout its genocidal war in Gaza, including 177 employees of the UN’s Palestinian Relief Agency, known as UNWRA. Most American politicians can tolerate the killing of Palestinian civilians, but the strike on the WCK workers got more attention and scrutiny since it killed foreigners, including one American citizen.

The WCK workers were killed in a series of drone strikes while traveling in three clearly marked cars along a route pre-approved by the Israeli military. Israel said it dismissed two officers and reprimanded three others for their role in the killing but is still claiming the strikes were the result of an accident.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.