AllStances •
December 19th, 2023
AllStances™: How Should the US Respond to the War in Gaza?
Should the U.S. government continue aiding Israel's efforts to eliminate Hamas?
Explore all perspectives, stances, and arguments for and against current U.S. involvement in Israel and Palestine with AllStances™ by AllSides.
The United States Should Provide Unconditional Israel Military Support
The U.S. should protect Israel, its great ally, from terror threats.
The United States Should Advocate for an Indefinite Ceasefire
The U.S. should oppose unlawful attacks by Israel on Gaza and should urge a ceasefire immediately.
The United States Should Advocate for a Humanitarian Pause
The U.S. can help Israel while also working to protect innocent civilians in Gaza.
Background
Tensions between Israel and Palestine have become increasingly inflamed in recent years, and people are debating what the U.S. should do about it.
RELATED: What “Israel” and “Palestine” Mean to Liberals and Conservatives
On October 7, 2023, while Saudi Arabia and Israel were normalizing relations, Hamas militants breached the Gaza Border, killing roughly 1,200 people and kidnapping approximately 250 more. Israel retaliated by cutting aid flow and launching an offensive in Gaza which killed thousands more.
The U.S. currently sends $3.8 billion in military aid to Israel annually since a deal struck in 2016. Another $14 billion to fund the current war in Gaza is tied up in Congress. Biden has reportedly told Israel to finish the ground invasion of Gaza by the end of 2023.
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Stance 1: The United States Should Provide Unconditional Israel Military Support
Core Argument: The U.S. should protect Israel, its great ally, from terror threats.
- “Israel has a right to defend itself against terrorist attacks.”
- There was a ceasefire in Gaza before Oct. 7 and Hamas broke it.
- A ceasefire would serve as a green light for a succession of future attempts to mass murder Israelis, threatening Israel’s very survival.
- Any democratic union should stand in solidarity with Israel as the only democracy in the Middle East.
- “The bonds between Israel and America run long and they run deep.”
- “The FBI provides a great deal of support to the government of Israel through training opportunities, exchange of intelligence. And the Israelis do an unbelievable amount in the realm of counterterrorism for us.”
- “The 75-year partnership has been built on mutual interests and shared democratic values from its inception, with Israelis and Americans united by their commitment to democracy, economic prosperity, and regional security.”
- “The U.S.-Israel technological partnership has never been stronger.”
- “America is going to support Israel… with weapons, with whatever they need. But supporting Israel also means helping them learn from our successes and our failures and to not reflexively repeat the same mistakes we made 20 years ago."
- U.S. military aid is necessary to deter outside groups like Hezbollah from escalating the current war.
- “Israel is known to do a lot more in the way of precautionary measures [in preventing civilian casualties].”
- While the civilians in Gaza are suffering, Hamas is the cause of that suffering and steals any aid given to the Gaza Strip.
- Achieving peace in the region “will require the dismantling of Hamas – which doesn’t represent the Palestinian people” and is a group that is “committed to armed struggle and the destruction of Israel.”
Stance 2: The United States Should Advocate for an Indefinite Ceasefire
Core Argument: The U.S. should oppose unlawful attacks by Israel on Gaza and should urge a ceasefire immediately.
- A ceasefire would put a stop to unlawful attacks by all parties, halt the mounting death toll in Gaza and enable aid agencies to get life-saving aid, water and medical supplies into the Strip to address the staggering levels of human suffering.
- Even before the current conflict, more than half of the people in Gaza lived in poverty, and 60% suffered from food insecurity. The combination of war and recession will only exacerbate Gaza's humanitarian crisis.
- For many Gazans fleeing the war, Israel's actions feel like forced displacement.
- “Civilian deaths represented 69 per cent of the total number of Palestinian fatalities during the hostilities — an unacceptably high ration that could not be dismissed as ‘collateral damage.’”
- “There were claims last week that 13 hostages died in one IDF attack. For Netanyahu, their safety seems secondary to destroying Hamas by pummeling Gaza. We need a cease-fire for their own protection.”
- “The danger to civilians must still be heeded, and harm disproportionate to the military objective renders an attack illegal.”
- “It is unlikely that Israel's destruction in Gaza … will contribute to the meaningful safety of Israelis and Jews.”
- Governments in the west and the Middle East are concerned about a wider regional conflict developing if Israel continues its bombardment of Gaza or mounts a ground invasion.
- “The share saying ‘the U.S. should be a neutral mediator’ rose to 39% in the new poll from 27% a month earlier… and 15% said the U.S. shouldn't be involved at all.”
- “The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Wednesday war crimes had been committed by both Israel and Hamas in the conflict that erupted just over a month ago.”
- “The Israel-Hamas war helps Russia in that it distracts and dilutes Western focus on Ukraine.”
- “[Israel’s] war, driven by both security and revenge (including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s need to expunge his humiliating failure to protect Israelis), nevertheless demonstrates genocidal intent.”
Stance 3: The United States Should Advocate for Another Humanitarian Pause
Core Argument: The U.S. can help Israel while also working to protect innocent civilians in Gaza.
- A humanitarian ceasefire or pause would afford a moment that we hope can build momentum for further multilateral diplomacy that ultimately brings an end to both Israel’s imprisonment of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and Hamas’ Gaza-based offensive capability.
- The war has left hospitals in Gaza with limited supplies while injured civilians continue to seek medical attention.
- “A humanitarian pause should be backed as a life-saving first step towards a more permanent agreement.”
- “The humanitarian pause [had] been in place since Friday morning and UN teams and partners have been able to scale up the delivery of humanitarian assistance into and across Gaza.”
- Humanitarian pauses are internationally uncontroversial, receiving support from nations ranging from Russia to the US.
- A pause would allow for the safe evacuation of citizens from combat areas
- The United States taking a lead on a humanitarian pause is necessary to ensure future national security.
Glossary of Terms
West Bank - Region of Eastern Palestine governed by the Palestinian Authority
Gaza Strip - Palestinian area bordering Egypt and home to about 2 million people
Hamas - Islamist terrorist organization with de-facto control of Gaza
Palestinian Authority- Palestinian nationalist party in charge of the West Bank
Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu - Israeli Prime Minister
West Bank Settlement - The building of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank
Gaza Blockade - The blockade of outgoing and ingoing ships in Gaza by Israel
Zionism - The belief in a Jewish state
Iron Dome - Anti-missile defense system operated by Israel
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AllSides Editor-in-chief Henry A. Brechter (Center bias)
University of California-Riverside public policy students Divya Bharadwaj, Andrew Shannon, and Samuel Shroff (all Left bias)
Reviewed by:
Content Designer Joseph Ratliff (Lean Left bias)
Director of Marketing and Bias Ratings Julie Mastrine (Lean Right bias)
Content Assistant Ethan Horowitz (Lean Right bias)
Video Producer Zachary Dickstein (Left bias)
Bridging and Bias Specialist Clare Ashcraft (Center bias)
