Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., questions Columbia University president Nemat Shafik at the House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing on "Columbia in Crisis: Columbia University's Response to Antisemitism" on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

North Country Rep. Elise Stefanik on Tuesday sent a letter to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging them to oppose potential arrest warrants — which the International Criminal Court is reportedly pursuing — of Israeli officials over war crimes alleged one decade ago.

“The leadership of our greatest ally stands falsely accused of war crimes,” the letter reads, “ranging from disproportionate force to deliberately starving the Palestinian civilians within the Gaza Strip. These accusations cannot be further from the truth.”

These words echo talking points from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobbying group, which has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Stefanik in recent months. These statements also contradict the statements of numerous government, nonprofit and humanitarian organizations, who have said that the Israeli Defense Force has targeted civilians and blocked food deliveries.

Stefanik has always publicly been a vocal supporter of Israel. But as tensions in the U.S. surrounding the Israel-Hamas war have erupted in recent months, particularly on college campuses, Stefanik has positioned herself as an ardent advocate against antisemitism, gaining national attention as she questioned university presidents over their policies about antisemitic speech on campus, resulting in her most successful fundraising quarter to date.

The ICC investigation behind the potential arrest warrants, including one for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, started in 2021 and relates to alleged war crimes in Palestine going back to 2014.

The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 and killed as many as 1,139 people — 764 civilians and 373 Israeli security personnel — while taking 248 hostages, 130 of whom are still captive, according to Israeli officials. As of today, more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the response, at least 77,000 have been injured and 2.2 million have been displaced, according to Palestinian health officials. The majority of Palestinians killed in Gaza are being reported as women and children.

Stefanik, as a member of the House Armed Services Committee and Select Committee on Intelligence, has always been vocal about supporting Israel as “our most precious ally” and reiterated on Tuesday that she “will always support her (Israel’s) right to defend herself.”

“These (ICC) warrants would set a dangerous precedent that will delegitimize Israel’s right to self-defense and threaten officials in all democracies fighting terrorists around the world, including America,” Stefanik said in a statement.

The letter calls for the U.S. to “enforce severe consequences on those engaged in this sham prosecution” if arrest warrants are made. Asked if she believes the U.S. should be more inquisitive about the IDF’s actions, Stefanik did not answer.

In her letter, Stefanik wrote that the ICC could better spend its time prosecuting Hamas leaders for war crimes on Oct. 7. The ICC has been investigating the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, and the Israeli response, for months. The ICC’s investigation into the 2014 war also includes an investigation into possible Palestinian war crimes.

Stefanik says Israel has tried to minimize civilian casualties in its latest offensive into Gaza.

“The civilian casualty ratio reported during these ongoing operations in the Gaza Strip is one of the lowest in any instance of urban warfare,” her letter claims. “That remains true even if you believe the figures coming from the Gaza Health Ministry.”

Of the 34,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza, two-thirds have been women and children. The IDF’s own estimates verify this ratio. It is lower than other civilian casualty ratios. In the 2014 Gaza war, up to three-quarters of Palestinian casualties were civilians.

“Israel has attempted to allow as much well-vetted humanitarian aid in as possible under the current security situation,” Stefanik’s letter claims.

The UN has accused Israel of “slow walking” aid, saying 30% of aid missions are denied by authorities, and that Gaza currently makes up 80% of the world’s residents facing “imminent famine.”

Aid convoys have been bombed by the IDF, killing their workers and chilling future distribution efforts. In February, an attack referred to as the “Flour Massacre” killed 118 Palestinians and wounded 760 when IDF troops opened fire on civilians waiting for a food delivery.

A report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said Gazan residents face high levels of acute food insecurity, calling the situation “catastrophic.”

The American Prospect, a news magazine, reported on documents from AIPAC’s March conference, with talking points for members of Congress including that “Israel is not blocking the delivery of aid to Gaza,” and that “reports that people are starving in Gaza are false.” AIPAC claims these are lies by Hamas to decrease support for Israel.

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Funding

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On April 21, Stefanik called potential U.S. sanctions on an IDF unit accused of human rights violations “unacceptable.”

“At a time when our greatest ally needs us the most, Joe Biden and Secretary Blinken are choosing to purposefully undermine Israel to appease the pro-Hamas faction of the Democratic Party,” she said.

These alleged human rights violations also predate the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

Stefanik claims the evidence for these reports come directly from anti-Israel non-government organizations and promised House Republicans will investigate this and expose the “antisemitic rot that is plaguing the Biden Administration.”

The Biden administration has currently paused these potential sanctions.

Biden has been vocally supportive of Israel’s war, and though he has asked Netanyahu numerous times to reduce the amount of civilian casualties, he authorized $26 billion in additional wartime assistance for Israel last week after Stefanik voted to pass the bill in the House.

Stefanik said she voted “proudly” to fund “our most precious ally Israel” with the “resources to defend herself.”

“With unprecedented attacks from Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah, Israel is in a fight for her very existence, making it necessary to replenish Israel’s Iron Dome Missile defense, produce critical munitions, and support U.S. military operations in the region,” she said in an email to the Enterprise.

On March 30, Biden also authorized $2.5 billion in weapons transfers to Israel ahead of its Rafah offensive.

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AIPAC

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Stefanik is the eighth-most funded member of the House by pro-Israel lobbyists this year with $375,191 in contributions.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobbying group was Stefanik’s top contributor for the past quarter with $37,750. AIPAC is by far the largest pro-Israel lobbying group. AIPAC is seeking to keep American politicians funding Israel in its war, even as thousands of Americans protest the high civilian death counts in Gaza.

According to the OpenSecrets campaign finance tracking nonprofit organization, the pro-Israel lobby is “one of, if not the most, powerful international issue lobby” in U.S. politics.

Throughout her congressional career, Stefanik has received $583,818 from pro-Israel lobbyists. In the previous 2021-22 election cycle, she pulled in only $66,505.

Not counting her own PACs — Team Elise, Elise Victory Fund and House GOP Battleground Fund — or WinRed, which aggregates individual donations into lump sums, AIPAC made the four largest individual contributions to her campaign this year.

Stefanik did not answer any questions about the money she receives from AIPAC and its lobbying statements.

AIPAC helped make the first quarter of 2024 Stefanik’s most successful fundraising quarter ever, after her interrogation of college presidents about antisemitism on their campuses made the national spotlight. In the congressional hearings, Stefanik asked if calling for the genocide of Jews violated Harvard’s rules of bullying or harassment.

“It can be, depending on the context,” responded then-Harvard President Claudine Gay said, saying if it was targeted at an individual it would. Gay later resigned from her role.