NPR’s Michel Martin speaks with analysts Yousef Munayyer and Jonathan Schanzer about American interests in continuing to support Israel in its war against Hamas. ROB SCHMITZ, HOST: As the new year begins, Israel’s war in Gaza is nearing its three-month mark. President Biden’s request for an aid package – that includes some $14 billion for Israel – is stalled in Congress. The administration has now twice bypassed Congress to approve emergency weapons sales to Israel. My colleague Michel Martin asked two guests on different sides of the issue whether, or how, America’s support for Israel’s war serves U.S. interests. They are Yousef Munayyer, head of the Palestine/Israel program at the Arab Center think tank, and Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. That’s a think tank founded after 9/11 that focuses on threats to U.S. national security. Here’s Schanzer. JONATHAN SCHANZER: The first thing to remember here is that Hamas is part of a network of Iran-backed terrorist organizations. So that includes Hezbollah. It includes the Houthis, the Shiite militias that are based in Iraq and Syria that have attacked U.S. forces more than 100 times since October 17. And if our goal ultimately is to weaken this Iranian axis that they have built up over time and to weaken Iran’s influence on the Middle East, Hamas is actually a good place to start. MICHEL MARTIN, BYLINE: Mr. Munayyer, what about you? Do you think that this serves U.S. interests? YOUSEF MUNAYYER: When it comes to the continued support for this war on Gaza, it’s very clear that it doesn’t serve U.S. interests. The United States has had to move military assets into the region, which of course comes at a cost, increases the cost to the U.S. taxpayer, which is paying […]
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