Newly-elected US Senator Abdul El-Sayed on Friday spoke against unconditional military aid to other countries when asked about America’s military support to Israel. He said that taxpayers’ money should be spent on domestic priorities such as education and healthcare instead of funding foreign militaries.
His remarks come amid growing debate in the US over Washington’s military support for Israel following its UN-designated genocide in Gaza.
“I don’t pay my tax dollars so the government of Egypt gets tanks or the government of Pakistan or the government of Saudi Arabia. I don’t believe that we should be doing unconditional foreign military aid as a matter of course,” El-Sayed said during an interview with PBS.
Asked whether Democrats needed to reach a consensus on US support for Israel, an issue that had emerged as a major point of division during his primary campaign, El-Sayed said public opinion was already clear on the matter.
“The public has pretty much clearly reached consensus. We don’t pay our tax dollars to buy bombs and tanks for other countries. We want to pay our tax dollars to buy good schools and healthcare here on our own. Whether or not parties recognise that, that is their choice,” he said.
He maintained that American military assistance should be conditional on adherence to international law and questioned why Washington should continue supporting countries accused of violating it.
“I think that for us, we should be conditional, right, when it comes to any foreign military aid on upholding international law. So why would we send our money to a country that is absolutely destroying, making a mockery out of international law, whether it’s genocide or apartheid or it is a war we have no business fighting for the annexation of a different country. If any other country behaved that way, we would think very differently about calling them an ally,” El-Sayed said.
“I think it’s our responsibility for us to just go where our principles say we ought to go and treat everybody similarly,” he added.
El-Sayed has been among the prominent progressive voices calling for a change in US policy towards Israel and greater scrutiny of American military assistance.
How much military aid does the US provide Israel?
Washington has been one of Israel’s biggest military supporters for decades. Under a 10-year memorandum of understanding covering 2019 to 2028, the US committed $38 billion in military assistance to Israel.
The package includes $3.3 billion annually in Foreign Military Financing and $500 million a year for joint missile defence programmes, according to the US Congress.
American military support increased further following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli bombardment in Gaza. Washington provided at least $16.3 billion in additional direct military assistance during the first year of the war, according to estimates by the Costs of War project at Brown University’s Watson Institute.
President Donald Trump had earlier announced that the US would end nearly $4 billion in annual military grants to Israel from 2027, while continuing arms sales, AP reported.
El-Sayed’s election victory
El-Sayed’s remarks come days after he won Michigan’s closely watched US Senate election, defeating Republican candidate and former Congressman Mike Rogers in the November 3 midterm elections.
The 42-year-old former Michigan health official’s victory will make him the first Muslim American elected to the US Senate. He will fill the seat being vacated by Democratic Senator Gary Peters, who decided not to seek re-election.
His campaign centred on progressive priorities, including universal healthcare, reducing corporate influence in politics and a tougher approach towards US support for Israel. He also defeated Democratic establishment-backed Congresswoman Haley Stevens in the party’s primary in August, despite substantial outside spending against his campaign.
El-Sayed’s victory marked a significant success for the progressive wing of the Democratic Party in a closely contested political battleground.
