Seth Binder

Source can be found here, #66 and #67 docs.house.gov/Committee/Ca...

Our factsheet breaks down U.S. military aid to Israel since October 7 and the immense privileges it already receives. mideastdc.org/publication/...

This amendment is in stark contrast to the myriad of other amendments introduced by Republicans & Democrats that continue the long history of Congress providing immense support & privileges to Israel, but is in line with recent US polling critical of unconditional aid to Israel.

If the secretary cant certify that Israel has taken “sustained and effective steps” on these conditions, the State Dept cant obligate 30% of the Foreign Military Financing military aid package. This does not touch the $500 million in Defense Department-funded missile defense.

The conditions call on Israel to end violations of int'l humanitarian & human rights law; refrain from annexation & expanding illegal settlements; hold rights violators accountable; facilitate entry for journalists & aid workers into Gaza; & protect Palestinian civil society.

While this is the first time such an amendment has ever been introduced for Israel, these types of conditions are regularly placed on other recipients of US aid, including close partners like Egypt & Mexico.

.@jayapal.house.gov introduced an amendment during the ongoing State Dept Reauthorization markup in the House Foreign Affairs Committee that would condition $1 billion of the $3.3 billion in US military aid to Israel on human rights benchmarks. A 🧵

Extraordinary Sums and Privileges: U.S. Security Assistance to Israel Since October 7, 2023 - MEDC

Israel bombed multiple countries across the Middle East in recent days. US military aid makes this possible. In our new factsheet we breakdown the $21.7B provided to Israel since Oct 7 & privileges it receives that allows it to carry on its war machine. mideastdc.org/publication/...

Far from confronting bureaucratic waste and influence, reductions in congressional reporting undermine public confidence and invite the very risks the admin claims it is looking to stem.

The admin claims it is ending the practice of providing wasteful foreign aid & will only provide foreign aid to advance US interests, but won’t tell anyone where or why, creating an even less transparent & accountable process.

State has suggested that the omission of these sub-sections reflects a desire to remain flexible in responding to US national security interests. However, the executive already has significant leeway in adjusting funding levels to reflect changing circumstances.

Earlier this year, Rep. Mast (R-FL) chastised State & USAID for its lack of transparency, claiming that “Unaccountable bureaucrats don’t want Americans to know how their hard-earned tax dollars are being wasted abroad.”

In 2023, Sen Hawley (R-MO) said: “Most of our voters are really, really skeptical about additional aid to Ukraine... We still dont have any independent oversight of the spending, no independent accounting of where it’s going, how it’s being spent. I just think that’s outrageous.”

Such an opaque process, has consistently drawn rancor from Congress. And rightly so.

But the elimination of the CBJ documents is effectively asking Congress to blindly dole out money without the admin answering those questions, depriving lawmakers and the public on where & why the admin intends to spend billions of taxpayer-funded programming.

The State Department also explained that “the United States is no longer going to blindly dole out money with no return for the American people.”

After freezing foreign aid, Rubio justified it by arguing: “Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to 3 questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?”

This decision eliminates the only congressional & public source of country-by-country info on US foreign aid before it is appropriated, effectively asking Congress to commit billions in taxpayer dollars without any insight into how the admin intends to spend the funds.

This year, the admin is choosing to ignore that legal requirement, representing a major blow to foreign aid transparency and good governance. It is another example of the mismatch between the admin’s rhetoric and reality.

Since at least 2001, every administration, including the first Trump admin, produced a critical set of documents of how & why the government intends to provide foreign assistance and how it already spent previous funds, as required by law. But not this year.

President Trump is Undermining Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability - MEDC

In a new piece by me and @stimsoncenter.bsky.social's Elias Yousif, we discuss the risks of the admin's legally dubious decision not to release detailed accounting for how the government intends to spend future foreign assistance. A 🧵 mideastdc.org/publication/...

Saudi Arabia Executed a Prominent Journalist who Exposed Corruption. The World Should Act Before Other Dissidents are Next.  - MEDC

🚨 Saudi Arabia executed a prominent journalist who exposed corruption. The world should act before other dissidents are next.

Read our commentary on the shocking execution of Turki Al-Jasser by @aalodah.bsky.social, @sethbinder.bsky.social, Sheridan Cole & Haydn Welch: mideastdc.org/publication/...

USAID implosion leaves Middle East activists at mercy of political crackdowns Human rights defenders across Middle East and North Africa were reliant on US for small grants to help them relocate and resettle abroad

"The billions in military aid compared to the pennies in democracy assistance really puts into perspective the priority of US governments, not just this administration who have eliminated even the pennies," MEDC’s @sethbinder.bsky.social tells Middle East Eye.
www.middleeasteye.net/news/usaid-i...

Digital Dictators: Confronting Authoritarian Narratives in the MENA Region - MEDC ديكتاتوريو العالم الرقمي: مواجهة السرديات الاستبدادية في الشرق الأوسط في عصرٍ باتت فيه الأنظمة الاستبدادية في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال إفريقيا تعتمد بشكل متزايد على تقنيات الذكاء الاصطناعي (AI) لنشر ا...

📣 NEW EVENT: Join us next Thursday, May 8, at 11AM for a conversation in Arabic on combating disinformation & propaganda by authoritarian regimes in the MENA. With Cathrine Abuamsha, Heba Alkadri, Mohamed Nagem & MEDC's Abdelrahman Ayyash.

Register here: mideastdc.org/events/digit...

Assessing Trump's First 100 Days To mark the first 100 days in office, experts independently assess aspects of the Trump administration's policies.

@sethbinder.bsky.social @mideastdc.org "...In just these 100 days, the Trump administration may have caused irreparable harm to U.S. interests, in which the full cost is only still coming into focus." #100days Read full quote at www.forumarmstrade.org/trump100days...

The Foreign Aid Freeze's Costs to the US in the Middle East and North Africa The Trump administration's dismantling of USAID poses significant threats to security in the Middle East and North Africa.

President Trump's foreign aid freeze has been nothing short of chaotic & staggering in its wholesale disruption & cost to US interests, particularly in the MENA region, write MEDC's @sethbinder.bsky.social, Sheridan Cole & Haydn Welch's in @justsecurity.org:
www.justsecurity.org/107929/us-fo...

The Foreign Aid Freeze's Costs to the US in the Middle East and North Africa The Trump administration's dismantling of USAID poses significant threats to security in the Middle East and North Africa.

US #ForeignAid to the Middle East and North Africa has been integral to US “safety, strength, and prosperity” – Secretary of State Rubio’s stated test for fulfilling President Trump’s America First agenda.

From @sethbinder.bsky.social, Sheridan Cole and Haydn Welch:

#MENA

While former US Senator Bob Menendez is sentenced to 11 years in prison for a corruption scheme in partnership with the Egyptian government, the Trump administration is allowing Egypt to continue receiving US military aid despite a global foreign aid freeze.

Egyptian poet & writer Abdulrahman al-Qaradawi has been forcibly disappeared since his extradition to the UAE from Lebanon on January 8. We call on Emirati authorities to disclose his location & immediately #FreeAbdulrahman.

Read our joint statement: mideastdc.org/publication/...

The national flag of Egypt, a tricolour consisting of the three equal horizontal red, white, and black. The flag bears Egypt's national emblem, the Egyptian eagle of Saladin, centred in the white band.

Disturbed to hear of new charges against HRD & Director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, Hossam Bahgat, in connection with his work on prison conditions. He has been a strong, impartial HRD throughout 3 political leaderships & has been harassed for years. His targeting should end.