Economy 16.10.2024
Lufthansa pays record $4m fine for barring Jewish passengers from flight
The United States’s deployment of an anti-missile system to Israel – plus 100 soldiers to operate it – comes at the same that it is saying it will stop military aid to Israel in compliance with a US law that prohibits militarily supporting countries that block humanitarian aid, as Israel is doing in Gaza.
It also raises questions about the legality of US involvement at a time when the administration of US President Joe Biden is facing growing backlash over its support for Israel.
Two recent developments – the Sunday announcement that the US would deploy troops to Israel and a letter sent by US officials the same day calling on Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza or face unspecified consequences – underscore the inconsistent approach of an administration that has effectively done little of substance to rein in Israel’s ever-widening war.
At a press briefing on Tuesday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller declined to say what the consequences of Israel failing to comply with US requests would be, or how this differs from an earlier, unfulfilled threat by the Biden administration to withhold military aid to Israel.
“I’m not gonna speak to that today,” Miller told reporters when pressed for details of how the US would respond to Israel’s failure to comply.
