The Senate yesterday unanimously passed a resolution backed by the Israel lobby group AIPAC expressing support for Israel’s attack on Gaza and saying not a word about Palestinian deaths.

The Hill says that the resolution passed “through a unanimous consent agreement.”

“The United States Senate is in Israel’s camp,” [South Carolina Senator Lindsey] Graham said on the Senate floor Thursday.

The resolution describes Palestinian attacks on Israel as “unprovoked” and says not a word about Palestinian deaths, but speaks of the survival of Israel in urging the dissolution of the unified Palestinian government:

Reaffirms the United States’ support for Israel’s right to defend its citizens and ensure the survival of the State of Israel… Calls on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to dissolve the unity governing arrangement with Hamas and condemn the attacks on Israel.

NJ Senator Cory Booker blamed Hamas for the violence:

“I strongly condemn the heinous attacks being perpetrated by Hamas and other terrorist groups against Israel. No country should have to live under a constant threat of aggression against its people, and I stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel as it defends itself against this shocking violence. My heart goes out to the citizens of Israel and the countless civilians in Gaza caught in this Hamas-initiated violence.”

MJ Rosenberg says it’s all about pro-Israel money, and that Senators have a double standard for US military actions and Israeli ones:



Note that even progressive saints Elizabeth Warren, Al Franken, Sherrod Brown, and Bernie Sanders found nothing in this to object to.



For the record, no U.S. military adventure has had the support of all hundred senators in decades. But, hey, this is Israel. And, more important, this is AIPAC. And cash.

Here’s more about the money from the Israel lobby. The Nation is reporting that the “anti-Iran lobby machine dominates Capitol Hill.” Reporter Eli Clifton is frank about “The Money Behind the Lobby”:

Sheldon Adelson

Chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands Corporation

Estimated worth: $36.8 billion

Iran-related contributions:

Over $1.5 million to the FDD [Foundation for the Defense of Democracies] between 2008 and 2011;

at least $1.04 million to AIPAC since 2007 • In October 2013, Adelson—who along with his wife, Miriam, was the GOP’s biggest donor during the 2012 presidential campaign—said the United States should drop a nuclear bomb in the Iranian desert to persuade Tehran to abandon its nuclear program. Paul Singer

Founder, Elliot Management hedge fund

Estimated worth: $1.5 billion.

Iran-related contributions:

$3.6 million to the FDD between 2008 and 2011;

$1.5 million to AIPAC between 2010 and 2011 • Singer was listed as the American Enterprise Institute’s second-largest donor in 2009, giving $2.31 million to the organization between 2009 and 2011. He was also a major fundraiser for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign. Bernard Marcus

Co-founder, Home Depot

Estimated worth: $3.6 billion

Iran-related contributions:

$10.7 million to the FDD between 2008 and 2011,

making him its biggest donor in that period;

$2.1 million to the FDD in 2012;

$650,000 to the AEI between 2007 and 2012;

$2.45 million to AIPAC between 2007 and 2012 • In the 2012 presidential campaign, Marcus contributed $60,000 to the Republican National Committee and $20,000 to a Mitt Romney Super PAC; he also maxed out his personal contributions to the Romney campaign. The contributions to AIPAC from all three donors were directed to the American Israel Education Foundation, which calls itself “the charitable organization affiliated with AIPAC.”

That last organization, AIEF, is what sent Florida Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor to Israel. And Castor refused to say anything publicly on behalf of her Palestinian-American constituent Tarek Abu Khdeir, who was brutally beaten by Israeli police.

Let’s be clear about this. Democrats are getting support from an organization backed by Republican high-roller Sheldon Adelson, who called on Obama to nuke Iran. Support for Israel transcends American politics. It has not been politicized. Even Rand Paul supported the Gaza resolution yesterday.