OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) — A federal judged dismissed on Wednesday a lawsuit that sought to block U.S. aid to Israel for a military campaign against Hamas that has left about 26,000 people in Gaza dead.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White in Oakland, California, granted the Biden administration's request to throw out the case because foreign policy is constitutionally the purview of the political branches of government and disputes over foreign policy are political questions that can't be decided by the courts.
The judge expressed some reservation about having to rule in favor of the administration because, he said, the undisputed evidence before him and the recent findings by the International Court of Justice supported the conclusion that the treatment of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli military "may plausibly constitute a genocide in violation of international law."
"There are rare cases in which the preferred outcome is inaccessible to the court," White said. "This is one of those cases. The court is bound by precedent and the division of our coordinate branches."
The plaintiffs are exploring the possibility of an appeal and urge the Biden administration to reexamine its support of Israel in light of the judge’s observations, Katherine Gallagher, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights who represents the plaintiffs, said in response to the ruling.
“The court affirmed that the Palestinian people in Gaza are enduring a genocide and that it’s the United States’ unflagging support for Israel that’s enabling the deaths of tens of thousands of people and the famine facing millions,” Gallagher said.
Defense for Children International-Palestine and the other plaintiffs filed their lawsuit in November 2023, saying the U.S. government violated the 1948 Genocide Convention by failing to intervene in Israel’s recent actions in Gaza and directly supporting them.
They sought a preliminary injunction against the Biden administration on claims the government failed to fulfill its legal responsibility to "prevent the unfolding genocide of Palestinian people” and is complicit.
“It is the duty of this court to apply these laws intended to stall further death, displacement and starvation of the Palestinian people in Gaza, half of whom are children," Gallagher told White at a hearing last week. She asked for an injunction blocking further U.S. ammunition specifically for Israel’s use on Palestinians in Gaza.
The administration maintained that the claims were preempted by the political questions doctrine, limiting how courts can hear constitutional questions even if other requirements are met.
Justice Department attorney Jean Lin argued at last week's hearing that the court should find that the plaintiffs’ claims are political questions, and not proceed further. A judicial finding against U.S. foreign policy could cause “international embarrassment” and undermine the foreign policy stance, she said.
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