There is a U.S. law on the books, the Leahy Law, that says American military aid cannot go to foreign security forces that commit gross human rights violations like torture. I want my government to follow its own law.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a respected American press-freedom group, published a report in February 2026 documenting what happened to Palestinian journalists held in Israeli detention. Of the 59 released journalists CPJ interviewed, all but one described torture or abuse. They lost an average of 52 pounds. More than 80% were never charged with any crime. Thirty journalists were still being held as of early 2026.
One of them, Mujahid Bani Mufleh, was released in January 2026 after months in detention without charge. He shared photographs of his condition. Two days after his release he suffered a brain hemorrhage and had part of his skull removed. Israel says administrative detention is a lawful security measure and denies systematic abuse, but a former State Department human rights official has said publicly that the United States has not applied the Leahy Law to Israel the way it does to other countries.
The United States sends Israel about $3.8 billion in military aid every year. That gives Congress both the standing and the duty to ask whether that aid complies with U.S. law.
I am asking you to do three things. Press the State Department to investigate and apply the Leahy Law to any unit credibly implicated in torture or detainee deaths. Support the Senate joint resolutions that would condition or block specific arms sales until that review is done. And demand that journalists held without charge be released or charged in a real court.
This is not about taking a side in a war. It is about making sure American law and American tax dollars are not funding torture. Please enforce the law we already have.
