Meet the pro-Israel hawk set to lead US House foreign policy panel

Washington, DC – Palestinian rights advocates in the United States are denouncing the selection of Republican Congressman Brian Mast to lead the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mast, a pro-Israel hawk known for his incendiary remarks about Palestinians, was nominated on Monday by fellow Republicans to be the chair of the influential panel in the incoming Congress, sparking outrage.

On Tuesday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) highlighted Mast’s history of anti-Palestinian statements, including his vilification of civilians and his call for destroying infrastructure in Gaza.

“Brian Mast might be the perfect person to serve as a spokesperson for the war criminals of the Israeli government, but he has no business running congressional hearings on sensitive international issues that impact our nation’s security,” CAIR government affairs director Robert McCaw said in a statement.

Mast hit back at CAIR on Wednesday. “I’d be more concerned if they were supporting me. Pace yourselves and buckle up,” he wrote in a social media post.

To assume leadership of the committee, the Florida Republican still needs to be elected by the full House, where his party holds a thin majority when the new chamber takes office early in January.

If successful, Mast — who wore an Israeli army uniform to the US Capitol last year — will preside over the panel that oversees legislation related to foreign policy.

Mast, a US army veteran who lost his legs in an attack in Afghanistan, has previously served as a civilian volunteer in the Israeli military.

Comparing Palestinians to Nazis

Since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October last year, Mast has publicly defended Israel’s right to use any means necessary to attack the Palestinian enclave.

Last year, for example, Mast said humanitarian aid to Gaza “should be slowed down”, despite a suffocating Israeli siege that has caused deadly starvation in the enclave.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in November for suspected war crimes, including the use of hunger as a weapon of war.

Mast has also suggested that all Palestinians in Gaza are legitimate targets for Israeli violence and starvation.

“I don’t think we would so lightly throw around the term ‘innocent Nazi civilians’ during World War II. It is not a far stretch to say there are very few innocent Palestinian civilians,” the US congressman said last year.

The remarks prompted Democratic Congresswoman Sara Jacobs to lead an unsuccessful push to formally rebuke Mast in the House.

“Brian Mast’s comments are incredibly dangerous and dehumanizing as we continue to push for humanitarian aid to reach Palestinians in harm’s way in Gaza and as Islamophobic hate crimes rise,” Jacobs said in a statement at that time.

Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the antiwar group Code Pink, described Mast as the “most cruel, heartless member of Congress”.

“His total disregard for Palestinian civilians fans the flames of violence. His position as chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee bodes ill for a foreign policy that strives to protect human life and promote peace,” she told Al Jazeera.

Benjamin and other activists confronted Mast on Capitol Hill about his views earlier this year. When asked whether he has seen pictures of Palestinian children killed by Israel, the Republican legislator responded: “These are not innocent Palestinian civilians.”

Israel has killed at least 44,800 Palestinians, including more than 17,000 children, in Gaza since the start of the war, according to local health authorities.

United Nations experts and rights groups have described the Israeli campaign as a genocide: an effort to destroy the Palestinian people in whole or in part.

‘Absurdity and fanaticism’

Mast rejects any criticism against Israel by international groups and the UN. He has also called for disbanding the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

Yasmine Taeb, the legislative and political director at MPower Change, a Muslim American civic engagement group, highlighted Mast’s history of “inflammatory and dehumanizing remarks”.

“Mast’s election as the next Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee just shows the utter absurdity and fanaticism we should expect from the House GOP next year,” Taeb told Al Jazeera in a statement.

When asked for comment about the criticism, Mast’s office referred Al Jazeera to the congressman’s response to CAIR on social media.

Critics fear Mast’s nomination is likely part of a larger trend towards unquestioning support for Israel’s war.

While Democratic President Joe Biden has already provided billions of dollars in unconditional support to Israel, the incoming administration of Republican President Donald Trump is set to be dominated by even more staunchly pro-Israel officials.

So Mast may be able to push foreign policy measures in coordination with allies at the White House. Republicans will also have a majority in the Senate.

Hassan el-Tayyab, an advocacy organiser at the Friends Committee on National Legislation, a Quaker social justice group, called Mast one of the “most ferociously anti-Palestinian voices” in Congress.

“His position unfortunately reflects a broader sentiment among too many Congress members who continue to supply unconditional weapons and military support to Israel, despite the Netanyahu government violating countless US laws and policies through its indiscriminate military campaign in Gaza and beyond,” el-Tayyab told Al Jazeera.

Netanyahu’s office welcomed Mast’s nomination earlier this week, hailing the congressman as a “great American patriot and a true friend of Israel”.