Fact-checking Nancy Pelosi on US complicity in Israeli atrocities

Polygraph | Newsletter n°236 | 22 February 2024

In a recent interview, Nancy Pelosi (D, CA) acknowledged that the US is arming Israel and that Israel is committing atrocities in Gaza, but denied that the US is complicit in those atrocities. Here is the exchange:

Interviewer: “Last week, the [European Union]’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell wondered aloud why the US isn’t doing more to have its warnings taken seriously in Jerusalem. ‘If you believe,’ he said, ‘that too many people are being killed, maybe you should provide fewer arms in order to prevent so many being killed.’ He’s got a point, hasn’t he?”

Pelosi: “Israel is very well-equipped with weaponry. There is nothing that we have sent since October 7 that has contributed to this brutality.”

The evidence suggests Pelosi is lying.

The reason Biden is fast-tracking vast quantities of arms to Israel — including by expediting sales, bypassing congressional review, permitting Israel to raid US stockpiles, diverting arms for Ukraine to Israel, etc. — is because that’s what Israel requires to brutalize Gaza. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has been clear that Israel’s war depends on a steady stream (torrent) of US weapons: “We need three things from the US: munitions, munitions, and munitions,” he said.

This is obvious in practice. The US has sent 21,000 bombs to Israel since October 7 and Israel’s already used half of them. That includes 5,400 MK84 2000-pound bombs, which Israel has dropped in areas it designated safe for civilians at least 200 times. The US has also provided Israel with at least 57,021 artillery shells since October 7. In early December, the Israeli military said it had fired more than 100,000 artillery shells since the start of its ground invasion on October 27, adding that artillery plays a “central role” in the war by providing “intense fire cover” for its forces in Gaza.

Then there’s the forensic evidence. As the table below shows, the same types of weapons Biden fast-tracked to Israel are being used to commit war crimes. I can’t say for certain whether the specific US bomb, shell, missile, or cartridge documented in each illegal attack after October 7 was also provided after October 7. However, considering Israel’s reliance on and prolific use of US munitions, Pelosi’s statement is probably false (and definitely misleading).

^Alt text for screen readers: The same types of weapons Biden fast-tracked to Israel are being used to commit war crimes. Table compares U.S. arms sent to Israel after Oct 7 with examples of Israel committing war crimes with those weapons. GBU-39 250lb bombs, Jan 9: bombed apartment building in Tal Al-Sultan, killing 18 civilians, including 10 children. MK83 1000lb bombs, Oct 22: bombed family home in Deir al-Balah, killing 19 civilians, mostly women and children. MK84 2000lb bombs, Oct 31: bombed Jabalia refugee camp, killing over 100 civilians, mostly women and children. 155mm artillery shells, Nov 10: shelled Mays al-Jabal and Al-Shifa hospitals, injuring several civilians. Hellfire missiles, Oct 19: fired missiles at Nur Shams refugee camp, killing 10 civilians, including 4 children. 120mm tank cartridges, Oct 13: fired tank rounds at journalists in south Lebanon, killing a Reuters journalist. Far from an exhaustive list. Based on forensic investigations from Amnesty, CNN, DCI Palestine, Human Rights Watch, NYT

-Stephen (@stephensemler; stephen@securityreform.org). Follow me on Bluesky.

Find this note useful? Please consider pledging support to this newsletter or becoming a supporter of SPRI on Patreon. Unlike establishment think tanks, we rely exclusively on small donations.