This commentary is by Isaac Evans-Frantz of Brattleboro. He is the director of Action Corps, an organization active in 30 states that campaigns for U.S. policies to save lives around the world. In 2022 he challenged then-Congressman Peter Welch for the seat that Sen. Patrick Leahy had previously held.
Over the past two years, Vermonters have directly felt the impact of U.S.-backed Israeli violence against Palestinians. Vermonter Dylan Collins, a journalist, was injured by tank fire from the Israeli military on October 13, 2023, with no ensuing accountability.
The following month a gunman shot three Palestinian students in Burlington. And on April 14, 2025, masked U.S. federal agents kidnapped another Vermonter, Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian U.S. resident.
And throughout all this, the transfer of U.S. weapons have caused astronomical death and destruction in Gaza, violating U.S. law governing provision of such weapons. Our tax dollars are being used to harm civilians in Gaza, rather than strengthen our communities.
And the violence has directly struck Vermont journalists, activists, residents and visitors. In protesting the violence, we and our neighbors are becoming targets of state repression.
Decades ago, as a Vermont fourth grader, I attended a classroom talk by a Jewish man who had survived a Nazi death camp. His story was harrowing, and left me with the strong belief that when we face atrocities, we must not turn away — no matter the personal price. These are moments when we are called to stand with one another.
We are witnessing crimes against humanity in Gaza and beyond, propelled by our federal government. Parents are pulling children from the rubble and grieving entire neighborhoods reduced to ashes. Many Americans are left asking why our government continues to contribute weapons and military support for these atrocities. Is there a way for us to stop our tax dollars from fueling abuse and devastation around the world?
The Leahy Law offers a solution. When I first heard D.C. colleagues reference this law several years ago, I was proud to learn that its name comes from our own Sen. Patrick Leahy.
The law prohibits the U.S. from providing assistance to foreign security force units when credible information shows they have committed gross violations of human rights. It allows the U.S. to target particularly egregious units of foreign security partners. This accountability encourages respect for human rights more broadly.
The Leahy Law has been applied around the globe, halting aid to thousands of security force units across numerous countries, with one glaring exception: Israel. Despite years of credible reports of gross violations of human rights committed by Israeli security force units, including in the State Department’s own annual human rights reports, all U.S. administrations since the law’s adoption have failed to enforce the law in regards to Israel.
This selective enforcement sets a dangerous precedent of impunity that emboldens the state of Israel to continue to commit gross violations of human rights. To the rest of the world, this double standard from the U.S. government sends the troubling message that some countries, because of political convenience or strategic alliances, can commit grave abuses without consequence.
In an unprecedented move organized by DAWN, last December seven Palestinians and Palestinian Americans filed a lawsuit against the State Department to compel the Secretary of State to follow the Leahy Law with regard to Israel. It is absurd that it should require a lawsuit to uphold U.S. law and basic human rights standards, but this is an important step forward.
On the congressional front, Vermont’s delegation to Washington has led the way in efforts to uphold the law. Building on Sen. Leahy’s legacy, Sen. Peter Welch has repeatedly pressed the State Department to apply the Leahy Law to Israel. In the House, just days after the Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting overwhelmingly passed a resolution to halt additional weapons to Israel until a permanent ceasefire is achieved, Rep. Becca Balint announced her opposition to sales of offensive weapons to Israel.
When Sen. Bernie Sanders visited Brattleboro last summer, Action Corps Vermont members and friends asked him about the Leahy Law and requested that he introduce the first-ever joint resolutions of disapproval against certain U.S. arms transfers to Israel. Soon after, he did just that.
Vermonters can be proud of our leadership on this issue, and rightly expect our congressional delegation to continue seeking accountability and an end to exceptions that undermine the law.
Impunity for foreign governments makes us all less safe. I felt this myself last month when, returning home to Vermont from a weekend trip to Quebec, federal agents at the border pulled me over, interrogated me and searched my car. I couldn’t help but wonder if I was being targeted for my activism for human rights and against war.
The longer the U.S. supports oppressive foreign governments, the more the U.S. has to become like those oppressive governments which suppress dissent. It seems that while the U.S. is imposing tariffs on imported goods, the U.S. is accelerating the import of repression to prevent Vermonters’ and our fellow Americans’ criticism of Israel.
While the U.S. continues to look the other way when it comes to Israel’s crimes, Vermonters are less safe. Our members of Congress must continue to stand up for accountability under the Leahy Law. It’s the least we can do.
