Democratic Maine Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (CD-1) issued a statement Friday claiming that U.S. aid to Israel is illegal due to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “interference with humanitarian operations” in the Gaza Strip.
Rep. Pingree’s statement comes after a group of six U.S. Senators sent a letter — signed by six Democrats and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont — to President Joe Biden calling on his administration to cease sending U.S. military aid to Israel unless Netanyahu’s government stops restricting humanitarian aid access to Gaza.
“The severe humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza is nearly unprecedented in modern history,” the Senators wrote in their March 11 letter.
“Your Administration has repeatedly stated, and the United Nations and numerous aid
organizations have confirmed, that Israel’s restrictions on humanitarian access, both at the border and within Gaza, are one of the primary causes of this humanitarian catastrophe,” they continued.
“The Netanyahu government’s interference with humanitarian operations has prevented U.S.- financed aid from reaching its intended recipients in a safe and timely manner,” they wrote.
The six Senators argued that Netanyahu’s interference with humanitarian aid violates Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, also known as the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act.
The law states that “No assistance shall be furnished under this Act or the Arms Export Control Act to any country when it is made known to the President that the government of such country prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance.”
In her statement posted to X Friday, Pingree wrote that she “fully agree[s] with their letter and any aid to Israel MUST be conditional on its government’s compliance with international law.”
[RELATED: Five Maine Socialists Arrested at Rep. Chellie Pingree’s Portland Office Amid Pro-Palestine Protest…]
“We cannot allow devastating starvation and famine in Gaza to persist on our watch,” Pingree wrote.
On Monday, Pingree followed up her earlier statement by joining five of her Democratic House colleagues on a letter to President Biden, saying that Israeli government has “made itself ineligible to receive continued U.S. weapons” due to restricted humanitarian aid.
“We urge you to act on the law and demonstrate to Prime Minister Netanyahu that U.S. support has firm limits and does not include enabling conditions that will lead to famine in Gaza,” Pingree and her colleagues wrote in the letter, dated Friday, March 23.
In a recent interview with CNN, Prime Minister Netanyahu stated that Israel’s policy is to “not have famine, but to be the entry of humanitarian support as needed, and as much as is needed.”
President Biden, in a March 18 call with Netanyahu, stressed the “urgent need to significantly increase the flow of lifesaving aid reaching those in need throughout Gaza, with special emphasis on the north.”
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="26830 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=26830">10 Comments
US financing NGO’s to process illegal aliens into this country is illegal. Pingree is a democrat hack that should keep her comments muted.
I remember when Chellie Pingree first ran for the Maine Senate in the early 1990’s. Pingree’s TV advertisements reminded me of the movie The Graduate – the scene when Ben is in the church balcony and the wedding party had closeup face shots mouthing angry insults at Benjamin. Pingree’s first political ads seemed to be modeled after that movie scene; Chellie (who’s not from Maine but Minnesota BTW) sure was angry!
All those years of anger has left Pingree with the classic angry wrinkled face of a leftist. They’re easy to spot.
But her votes that violate the US Constitution are okay, eh?
Typical leftist hypocrite.
Tax the rich, (except me)
No guns for your, security for me.
etc.
If she wants to end money going to Israel, how about the money laundering capital, Ukraine, and all the other countries that are being sent our money?
A tip for Pingree: Keep your arms out; it makes it more difficult to get the net over you.
No surprise here, all Marxist DemoRats are antisemites and bigots. Look at their history as far back as pre-Civil War to WWII, from the KKK and segregation support to ignore the death camps and Holocaust during WWII.
If I was Chellie I would not look in the mirror because what reflects back is not a decent person.
Thank god they finally got the foreign assistance act in the form of a coloring book so CP could understand it. Chellie never forget that you’re special. I wonder if her and king might share a root on the ole family tree.
Democratic Maine Congresswoman Chellie Pingree is a blithering idiot who is incapable of finding her own ass if she bent over and used both hands. Somehow this cretin must be voted out in the next election.
Vote her out also, if you know what is good for Maine.
Southern Maine is INUNDATED with AWFLs (angry white female liberals) who are well to do, live in the suburb’s, and always vote democrat.
Chellie Pingree the illegals are comming over the boader also so cut off their money that the fool like me is paying to the government to pay them. The questions is when do fools like me have no money to pay or when do you get voted out?