United States Department of Justice
Criminal Division
Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section
Hope Olds, Chief
Via email only to Hope.Olds@usdoj.gov
Courtney Spivey Urschel, Deputy Chief
Via email only to Courtney.Urschel@usdoj.gov
Matthew Graves, Esq.
U.S. District Attorney
United States Attorney's Office
601 D Street, NW
Washington, DC 20579
Via email to matthew.graves@usdoj.gov
RE: Request for immediate empanelment of grand jury to investigate criminal violations of federal laws governing provision of military weapons and munitions aid to Israel
Dear Ms. Olds, Ms. Urschel and Mr. Graves:
On behalf of the members of Veterans For Peace (VFP), an international organization of former military, we urgently request that you, as DOJ attorneys entrusted with enforcement of human rights laws, immediately empanel a grand jury to investigate whether U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew have lied to the U.S. Congress or conspired to lie to the U.S. Congress in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001; whether they have violated or conspired to violate the Export Control Act, 22 U.S.C. § 2778(a)(2) by misrepresenting and/or disregarding official U.S. government reports, including an expert report from within the State Department, documenting the commission of multiple acts by the government and military of the nation of Israel to deny and block delivery of humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip; whether they have violated or conspired to violate the Genocide Prevention Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1091 by concealing or misrepresenting the commission of acts by the government and military of the nation of Israel to deny and block delivery of humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip in order to further the genocidal destruction of that population; and whether they have violated or conspired to violate the War Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2441 by concealing or misrepresenting the commission of acts by the government and military of the nation of Israel to deny and block delivery of humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip, ensuring non-interruption of U.S. military aid to Israel which has allowed the continued perpetration of genocidal acts and war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza.
BACKGROUND
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Israel’s inducement of famine and disease in Gaza and the State Department’s historical indifference to it
On September 24, 2024, the nonprofit investigative journalism group ProPublica published a news article captioned, “Israel Deliberately Blocked Humanitarian Aid to Gaza, Two Government Bodies Concluded. Antony Blinken Rejected Them.” That essay documented that in May 2024, despite having two official reports that concluded the government of Israel was systematically denying and blocking humanitarian food and medical assistance to the Gaza Strip in violation of U.S. foreign aid laws, Secretary of State Blinken reported to the U.S. Congress that “We do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance.”
ProPublica reported that in late April 2024, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) delivered their assessments to Secretary Blinken and other top diplomats of the role of Israel in directly causing humanitarian aid deliveries to, and within, the Gaza Strip to fail. USAID wrote a detailed 17-page memo on Israel’s misconduct, describing instances of Israeli sabotage and interference with aid efforts, including killing aid workers, razing agricultural structures, bombing ambulances and hospitals, sitting on supply depots and routinely turning away trucks full of food and medicine. Separately, the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration also determined that Israel was blocking humanitarian aid and that the federal Foreign Assistance Act should be triggered to freeze some $830 million in taxpayer dollars earmarked for weapons and bombs to Israel.
These conclusions had significant legal implications because the federal Foreign Assistance Act, (22 U.S.C. § 2378-1) requires the U.S. government to cut off weapons shipments to countries that prevent the delivery of U.S.-backed humanitarian aid. The cutoff of U.S. military assistance to Israel would have considerable effect on Israel’s ability to continue its genocidal war, as some 70% of Israel’s bombs, weapons and other munitions are imported from the U.S.
ProPublica described the USAID memo as indicative of a deep rift within the Biden administration on the issue of unimpeded military aid to Israel. In March 2024, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, sent Secretary Blinken a cable arguing that Israel’s war cabinet, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, should be trusted to facilitate aid shipments to the Palestinians. Lew recommended continued military assistance because he had “assessed that Israel will not arbitrarily deny, restrict, or otherwise impede U.S. provided or supported” shipments of food and medicine. In the months leading up to his March cable, Ambassador Lew’s underlings repeatedly told him of instances where the Israelis blocked humanitarian assistance, according to four government sources, but Lew had retorted that “No other nation has ever provided so much humanitarian assistance to their enemies.”
Secretary Blinken and the Biden administration rejected both the USAID and State Department staff findings. On May 10, 2024, Secretary Blinken formally wrote to Congress, “We do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance.” This assessment allowed the U.S. to continue to provide hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of military aid to Israel, in flat contradiction of voluminous contrary evidence in the public domain. When Secretary Blinken lied to Congress, he also violated the Arms Export Act and the Genocide Prevention Act, as detailed below.
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Veterans For Peace (VFP) warning of legal violations in February 2024
Secretary Blinken’s false May 10 statement to Congress embodies and is the product of multiple violations of U.S. federal law.
Veterans For Peace is a 39-year-old international organization composed of war veterans and other opponents of war. Throughout its existence, VFP has been a public watchdog and critic of U.S. foreign and military policy toward Palestine for many years and supports the cause of ending the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Military veterans possess specialized knowledge of how wars happen and how weapons and munitions are used in them. VFP investigators have for decades visited Gaza and the West Bank to bear witness to humanitarian rights violations and war crimes perpetrated by Israel and its military. Since the tragic and unfortunate events of October 7, 2023 caused by the Hamas organization, VFP members have monitored the ongoing hostilities pitting the superior Israel Defense Force against the guerilla resistance of Hamas. VFP’s investigation has particularly tracked suspected and apparent violations of humanitarian laws and treaties and the commission of war crimes by the parties.
On February 9, 2024, VFP delivered a lengthy annotated letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken; Jessica Lewis, Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs; Barbara A. Leaf, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs; Robert S. Gilchrist, Senior Bureau Official of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor; and Diana Shaw, Esq., then Acting Inspector-General of the Department of State, addressing the Department of State’s possible violations of the Foreign Assistance Act, Arms Export Control Act, Leahy Laws, the Conventional Arms Transfer Policy (NSM-18) of February 2023, the U.S. War Crimes Act and the Genocide Implementation Prevention Act. Those laws variously prohibit transfers of weapons and munitions to Israel if there is credible evidence the arms will be used by Israel to commit, or aggravate risks that Israel will commit, genocide, crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, or other serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights law.
The U.S. Department of State has never responded to, nor even acknowledged receipt of, VFP’s February 9, 2024 letter.
In their letter, VFP recounted credible reports of humanitarian crimes being committed by units of the Israel Defense Force during its ongoing invasion of the Gaza Strip. The IDF, which is heavily dependent on U.S. weapons and munitions to prosecute its operations in Gaza has continually committed genocidal acts and promoted genocidal incitements resulting in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes of aggression with the material support of the U.S. VFP cited summary executions and intentional mass killings of noncombatant Palestinians, disproportionate attacks by the IDF that had killed thousands, attacks on hospitals and other health services as well as, cultural, historical and governmental properties, ethnic cleansing, intentional starvation of civilians and deprivations of water and energy supplies. We pointed to the Human Rights Watch report of December 2023 which documented allegations that Israel has been using starvation of the Palestinians in Gaza as a weapon of war. We also cited the World Food Programme’s eyewitness observations that exposed Israel’s aid inspection regime as a central culprit in disallowing humanitarian aid.
VFP reminded the State Department of the findings of the January 26, 2024 Order of the International Court of Justice which found that South Africa had shown a “plausible risk” that Israel is conducting genocide in the Gaza Strip. See Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel). In the near-unanimous ruling, the Court ordered Israel to prevent the commission of genocide of Palestinians in Gaza; not inflict conditions calculated to destroy Palestinians; prevent and punish direct as well as public incitement to commit genocide against Palestinians; and to take immediate and effective measures to provide urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. See Order at ¶ 30, ¶ 54, ¶ 59, and ¶ 66.
VFP further brought to Secretary Blinken’s attention certain of the findings made by a U.S. federal judge in his February 1, 2024 “Order Granting Motion to Dismiss.” In Defense for Children International—Palestine, et al. v. Joseph Biden, et al., following an evidentiary hearing on the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, the court held that:
Both the uncontroverted testimony of the Plaintiffs and the expert opinion proffered at the hearing on these motions as well as statements made by various officers of the Israeli government indicate that the ongoing military siege in Gaza is intended to eradicate a whole people and therefore plausibly falls within the international prohibition against genocide.
This conclusion was entered upon extensive sworn testimony taken subject to cross-examination on January 26, 2024.
In our February letter to Secretary Blinken, we provided viable evidence that the Department of State likely had violated federal restrictions on exports of military aid to Israel in the form of a sworn declaration of Josh Paul. Mr. Paul, former Director of Congressional and Public Affairs in the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, attested to significant failures by the Department in a declaration filed in the Defense for Children International—Palestine lawsuit:
I believe it is clear that the U.S. government is failing not only to execute the due diligence required under existing U.S. laws, but is actively creating and utilizing processes that help insulate Israel from accountability or sanctions in accordance with existing U.S. laws and policies. In my experience, the U.S. government is aware that U.S.-origin weapons, munitions, and equipment will be used by Israel in ways that are contrary to U.S. law, including applicable provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act, Arms Export Control Act, Leahy Laws, the Conventional Arms Transfer Policy (NSM-18) of February 2023, among others, and Israel’s own commitments to the United States under applicable processes and agreements, and other requirements that their end use of U.S.-origin weapons, munitions, and equipment be used in accordance with international law. The failure to execute meaningful due diligence or adequately apply existing U.S. laws permits the unfettered flow of military assistance to Israel forces with minimal oversight that leads to unnecessary civilian harm, gross violations of human rights, and impunity for violations of international law.
VFP demanded to know why the State Department’s emergency certification allowing sales of tank and artillery munitions to Israel in December 2023 was allowed in apparent contradiction of the guidelines of Sections 2, 3 and 4 of the Department’s Conventional Arms Transfer (“CAT”) Policy (NSM-18) (February 2023). We expressed skepticism that the provisions of CAT Section 2, to “prevent arms transfers that risk facilitating or otherwise contributing to violations of human rights or international humanitarian law,” were being fulfilled. We suggested that the Department’s ammunition transfer approvals appeared to contradict CAT Section 3’s obligation to weigh that Israel “may use the arms transfer to contribute to a violation of human rights or international humanitarian law, based on an assessment of the available information and relevant circumstances, including the capacity and intention of the recipient to respect international obligations and commitments.”
VFP pointed out that CAT Section 4 clearly directs that “no arms transfer will be authorized where the United States assesses that it is more likely than not that the arms to be transferred will be used by the recipient to commit, facilitate the recipients’ commission of, or to aggravate risks that the recipient will commit genocide; crimes against humanity; grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, including attacks intentionally directed against civilian objects or civilians protected as such; or other serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights law, including serious acts of gender‑based violence or serious acts of violence against children.” But this guidance has been continually disregarded since October 7, 2023.
Two weeks after Secretary Blinken lied, in writing, to Congress about the state of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, the International Court of Justice on May 24, 2024 by a 13-2 vote ordered Israel to immediately halt its military offensive in southern Gaza and for the crossing from Egypt into Rafah to be kept open for the “unhindered provision at scale of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance.” There is no evidence that Israel has complied with these orders.
THE SECRETARY OF STATE AND U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL MAY HAVE COMMITTED SERIAL VIOLATIONS OF U.S. DOMESTIC CRIMINAL LAW
VFP submits that the State Department’s maladministration of the Foreign Assistance Act and Export Control Act relative to issues of aid to Israel may comprise criminal wrongdoing. We thus request that the Department of Justice urgently convene a grand jury to investigate the possibilities of these criminal violations by Secretary of State Blinken and Ambassador Lew:
● The Export Control Act, 22 U.S.C. § 2778(a)(2), requires that “[d]ecisions on issuing export licenses under this section shall take into account whether the export of an article would . . . increase the possibility of outbreak or escalation of conflict.” Violations are punishable by up to 20 years of imprisonment under 22 U.S. Code § 2778(c).
Although he had available expert reports concerning multiple acts by the Israel government and military to thwart the provision of humanitarian assistance, Secretary Blinken neither integrated that information into his report to Congress nor did he take into account the potential for the Israeli wrongdoing to increase or prolong its invasion of Gaza and consequential acts of genocide. Similarly, by intentionally declining to invoke Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act (22 U.S.C. § 2378-1) and not requiring Israel as a recipient of U.S. military aid to facilitate unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, Secretary Blinken also failed to account whether under the Export Control Act the provision of military aid would escalate the ongoing genocide by the Israel Defense Force.
Secretary Blinken likely based his decision not to force Israel to deliver sufficient aid to Gaza in part on the knowingly false representations of Ambassador Lew, who ignored multiple reports of Israel’s blocking of assistance and refused to act on them while insisting merely that Israel is superlative in delivering humanitarian aid.
● The Material False Statement law, 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a), prohibits falsification or
concealment of material facts orally or in writing to the U.S. Congress. 18 U.S.C. § 1001(c)(1) prohibits falsification of “a document required by law, rule, or regulation to be submitted to the Congress or any office or officer within the legislative branch.” Violations are punishable by up to 8 years of imprisonment under 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(3).
Secretary Blinken’s lack of candor with the Congress in order to continue the provision of military aid to Israel meant concealing the existence of the USAID and State Department reports showing the IDF as a repeat violator of federal laws. The concealed significant evidence expressly recommended the immediate cutoff of military aid to Israel. By allegedly lying to Congress, Secretary Blinken perpetuated ongoing genocidal acts and war crimes against the Palestinians of Gaza because the supply of weapons and munitions to Israel continued unabated.
● The Genocide Prevention Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1091, forbids intentional destruction of national, ethnic, racial, or religious group by killing, causing serious bodily injury or subjecting them to conditions of life that are intended to cause the physical destruction of the group in whole or in part.
The intentional refusals by Secretary Blinken and Ambassador Lew to properly conduct the vetting and investigations and make the findings indicated by evidence under the Export Control Act and Foreign Assistance Act comprise the crimes of complicity to, or aiding and abetting the crime of genocide. Genocide is punishable by fines, imprisonment up to life, or the death penalty, depending on circumstances.
● The War Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2441, forbids the direct commission of, or
complicity in committing, various offenses that comprise aspects of genocide.
Complicity can take the form of various kinds of acts, including aiding and
abetting. The provision of weapons has been held to constitute complicity. In Akayesu, the ICTR Trial Chamber held that the “procuring [of] means, such as weapons, instruments, or any other means” satisfies the actus reus (or act requirement) of complicity. In the Zyklon B case, the British military court convicted of aiding and abetting defendants who, through their businesses, supplied poison gas into Germany knowing that it was to be used in extermination camps. The ICJ further clarified that acts of complicity may include the “provision of means to enable or facilitate the commission of the crime.”
Specific intent to commit genocide is not required for a finding of complicity; rather, it is sufficient for a State to act with the knowledge that the direct perpetrator had the specific intent to commit genocide, as affirmed by the ICJ in Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro. The District Court in the Hague, which adjudicated a case involving the application of a Dutch statute implementing the Genocide Convention, held that a finding of complicity requires knowledge of “the genocidal intention of the perpetrator” rather than specific genocidal intent of the accomplice. The Trial Chamber in Akayesu and the Appeals Chamber in Ntakirutimana noted that complicity does not require that the perpetrator share the same specific intent, only that the accomplice must have known of the genocidal plan and that the assistance would help in the commission of the act.
CONCLUSION: The Acts of the U.S. Secretary of State and the U.S.
Ambassador to Israel Should Be Criminally Investigated by a Grand Jury
Secretary Blinken’s failure to implement our federal law and halt weapons shipments to Israel touches upon and is governed by both domestic and international law. The International Court of Justice has repeatedly reminded Israel since at least January 26, 2024 of its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide to avoid without fail the causation of genocide and associated crimes. The United States enforces domestic criminal laws partly to fulfill our country’s responsibilities under the Genocide Convention. To avoid complicity in the commission of genocide, the U.S. is required to uphold and implement International Court orders, including those aimed at preventing genocide. In short, the Department of Justice need not determine whether the U.S. bears responsibility to prevent genocide. The International Court of Justice has determined it for them by its orders.
Against this framework, the alleged wrongdoing of Secretary of State Blinken in the form of lying to Congress, which in turn saved Israel from interruption of deliveries of weapons and munitions and permitted Israel to continue to perpetrate war crimes and genocidal acts, arguably violated the Genocide Convention and the orders of the International Court of Justice, but also, the objectives of U.S. foreign policy against fomenting and increasing war, against allowing war crimes, and against the commission of human rights violations.
Israel’s genocidal invasion of Gaza continues as of this writing. In the past week, Israel has undertaken an illegal war against Hezbollah and the nation of Lebanon. Neither of these wars would be possible for Israel absent the provision of weapons and munitions by the United States.
For all of these reasons, we urgently request the empanelment of a federal grand jury to investigate potential criminal violations by Secretary Antony Blinken and Ambassador Jack Lew.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Susan M. Schnall, President
Veterans For Peace