This is how a U.S. president could hold Israel accountable — without Congress

A progressive president would have many tools at their disposal to ensure American weapons and taxpayers’ money do not violate Palestinian rights.

By Alex Kane | +972 Magazine |  Jan 22, 2019

The U.S. Constitution gives the executive branch a great deal of power over foreign policy, and it’s time a Democratic president uses that authority to end Israeli human rights violations.

A year into the Democratic Party’s presidential primary, the top candidates have coalesced around a general consensus on how to reverse the Trump administration’s rightward lurch on Israel. This consensus includes: restoring U.S. funding to UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees; working toward a two-state solution; and opposing Israeli settlements.

But if that is all the candidates pursue, it would simply be a return to Obama-era policies. There’s a lot more a Democratic president like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren should do — and they can do it without Congress.

Once in the White House, and with the help of executive branch agencies, the president would have the legal authority to withhold U.S. weapons transfers to Israel and to investigate, or even curb, American nonprofits that receive tax-exempt donations and send that money to Israeli settlements. The U.S. Constitution gives the executive branch a great deal of power over foreign policy, and it’s time a Democratic president uses that authority to end Israeli human rights violations.

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