US threatens Israel but deploys troops, revealing policy inconsistency

The deployment of an precocious United States anti-missile strategy to Israel, on with 100 troops to run it, marks a important escalation successful US entanglement with a widening Israeli warfare that Washington has already heavy subsidised.

But the deployment – successful anticipation of an Iranian effect to an expected Israeli onslaught connected Iran – besides raises questions astir the legality of US engagement astatine a clip erstwhile the medication of US President Joe Biden is facing increasing backlash implicit its unwavering enactment for Israel. It besides comes arsenic US officials are seeking to task authorization and threatening to astatine past enforce US instrumentality prohibiting subject assistance to countries that artifact humanitarian aid, arsenic Israel has regularly done successful Gaza.

Two caller developments — the Sunday announcement that the US would deploy troops to Israel and a missive sent by US officials the aforesaid time calling connected Israel to amended the humanitarian concern successful Gaza oregon look unspecified consequences — underscore the inconsistent attack of an medication that has efficaciously done small of substance to rein successful Israel’s ever-widening war.

At a property briefing connected Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller declined to accidental what the consequences of Israel failing to comply with US requests would be, oregon however this differs from an earlier, unfulfilled menace by the Biden medication to withhold subject assistance to Israel.

“I’m not gonna talk to that today,” Miller told reporters erstwhile pressed for details of however the US would respond to Israel’s nonaccomplishment to comply.

Empty threats

In the backstage letter, which was leaked connected Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called connected Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer to instrumentality a bid of “concrete measures”, with a 30-day deadline, to reverse the deteriorating humanitarian concern successful Gaza. The US briefly paused the transportation of thousands of bombs to Israel earlier this twelvemonth arsenic Israeli officials planned to grow their operations successful confederate Gaza, but it rapidly resumed and continued supplying Israel with weapons adjacent arsenic it escalated its battle successful Gaza and aboriginal successful Lebanon.

“A missive jointly signed by some the caput of authorities and caput of defence indicates a heightened level of concern, and the not-so-subtle menace here, whether the medication carries done with it oregon not, is that they volition really enforce consequences nether these assorted ineligible and argumentation standards,” Brian Finucane, a erstwhile ineligible advisor to the US State Department and elder advisor with the US programme astatine the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera.

Whether the medication would transportation done with it remained precise overmuch successful question.

“It’s important to enactment that determination were ineligible standards during the full people of this conflict, and the Biden medication has conscionable not enforced them. It whitethorn beryllium the concern is truthful dire successful bluish Gaza that the governmental calculations person changed, and that they whitethorn really yet determine to instrumentality US law. But it’s truly agelong past the constituent astatine which they should person done so,” Finucane said.

Finucane besides noted that the 30-day deadline would expire aft the US statesmanlike predetermination adjacent month. “So they whitethorn consciousness that immoderate governmental constraints the medication whitethorn person felt it was operating under, they whitethorn consciousness little constrained by,” helium said.

Miller, the State Department spokesman, told reporters connected Tuesday that the predetermination was “not a origin astatine all” — but Annelle Sheline, a erstwhile State Department authoritative who resigned earlier this year successful protestation of the administration’s Israel policy, disagrees.

“I construe it arsenic being intended to effort to triumph implicit Uncommitted [National Movement] voters and others successful plaything states who person made wide that they are opposed to this administration’s unconditional enactment for Israel,” Sheline told Al Jazeera. “I bash not expect to spot consequences.”

Deeper entanglement

Whether the US would transportation done with its threats, the deployment of troops to Israel sent a overmuch much factual connection of ongoing US enactment nary substance however dire the humanitarian situation.

The US-made Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, oregon THAAD, an precocious rocket defence strategy that uses a operation of radar and interceptors to thwart short, mean and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, adds to Israel’s already bonzer anti-missile defences arsenic it weighs its effect to an Iranian rocket onslaught earlier this month. Biden said its deployment is meant “to support Israel”.

The announcement of the deployment came conscionable arsenic Iranian officials warned that the US was putting the lives of its troops “at hazard by deploying them to run US rocket systems successful Israel”.

“While we person made tremendous efforts successful caller days to incorporate an all-out warfare successful our region, I accidental it intelligibly that we person nary reddish lines successful defending our radical and interests,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi wrote successful a connection connected Sunday.

In practice, the deployment further drives the US into warfare astatine a clip erstwhile US officials proceed to wage lip service to diplomacy.

“Rather than unit de-escalation oregon enactment to rein successful Israeli officials, President Biden is redoubling efforts to reassure Israeli leaders that helium is successful lockstep with them arsenic they deliberately tube towards determination warfare and escalate a genocidal run against Palestinians,” Brad Parker, a lawyer and subordinate manager of argumentation astatine the Center for Constitutional Rights, told Al Jazeera.

Parker and different lawyers reason that the Biden medication is relying connected constrictive and stretched ineligible arguments successful an effort to warrant a seemingly unilateral determination nether US law. The US is besides already implicated nether planetary humanitarian instrumentality for the enactment it has fixed Israel arsenic it violated the laws of war.

“So far, the Biden medication has tried to characterise the fortification of existing deployments and authorisation of caller deployments arsenic fragmented oregon idiosyncratic incidents. However, what emerges is simply a broad and robust instauration of US forces into situations wherever engagement successful hostilities is imminent without immoderate legislature authorisation arsenic required by the law,” Parker said.

“All Americans should beryllium seething that a lame duck president is clinging to constrictive ineligible interpretations that chopped against the wide intent of existing US instrumentality to warrant the monolithic deployment of US forces into a determination conflagration that was successful portion created arsenic a effect of his ain destructive, genocide-supporting policies.”

No legislature approval  

Experts accidental that deploying US troops equipped for combat anyplace successful the satellite and without legislature approval, arsenic Biden is doing now, could trigger US laws that necessitate reports to legislature committees. Should the deployed troops prosecute successful definite actions – successful this case, utilizing the THAAD missiles – it would commencement a 60-day timepiece for their removal, oregon for Congress to motion disconnected connected further engagement.

“This does, successful my view, represent the instauration of US equipped forces ‘into hostilities oregon into situations wherever imminent engagement successful hostilities is intelligibly indicated by the circumstances’,” Oona Hathaway, manager of the Center for Global Legal Challenges astatine Yale Law School, told Al Jazeera, citing the national instrumentality regulating the president’s authorization to perpetrate the US to an equipped conflict. “And truthful [it] ought to beryllium authorised by Congress”.

But the US has been quiescent astir the ineligible implications.

“The Biden medication has gone retired of its mode to debar acknowledging the exertion of this law,” said Finucane. “Because one, this instrumentality imposes constraints, the 60-day bounds connected hostilities; and two, if the Biden medication acknowledges that this instrumentality is successful spot and the constraints apply, it doesn’t person charismatic options. It tin either halt the enactment oregon spell to the US Congress for a warfare authorisation. And it doesn’t privation to bash either of those.”

This wouldn’t beryllium the archetypal clip the medication has downplayed its ineligible obligations arsenic it entangles the US successful conflicts abroad. The US has, for instance, been warring Yemen’s Houthi rebels since October 7 without legislature approval.

The Biden medication has justified those subject operations arsenic “self-defence” — thing it whitethorn effort to bash again. The US Defense Department did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

“Thus far, Congress has not required the medication to explicate however precisely Iran firing connected Israel undermines US security,” said Sheline, the erstwhile State Department official. “It’s imaginable that Biden anticipates that Iran volition onslaught and Congress volition past beryllium anxious to state war.”