The World Central Kitchen deaths could kill aid to Ukraine as well as Israel

President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally spoke on Thursday after Israeli airstrikes killed seven aid workers for the nonprofit World Central Kitchen.

The international fallout from the killings has been swift and shows little signs of slowing down. José Andrés, the celebrity chef who runs World Central Kitchen, accused Israel’s military on Wednesday of targeting “systematically, car by car” the aid workers. Andrés’s elevated public platform as a celebrity chef who moonlights as a beloved humanitarian provider means Washington and Jerusalem will continue to hear from him.

So far, Democrats including Biden have only signaled vague calls for an “investigation” without specifiying what that might entail. One former Pentagon attorney told The Independent that, in their opinion, any such investigation would be “perfunctory” and “performative.”

One former State Department official also said: “There’s no incentive to investigate if the president and the White House themselves have announced that aid is unconditional.”

Biden has received plenty of criticism for his steadfast support for Israel. A small but significant portion of Democratic voters voted “uncommitted” in primary contests — most recently in Wisconsin on Tuesday — because of it.

And the president’s support for Israel and the outcry after the aid workers’ deaths also could undermine one of Biden’s other major priorities for 2024: providing aid for Ukraine.

After the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, Democratic leaders including Biden pushed to couple Ukraine aid in a bill with aid to Israel. Democrats hoped linking the two would allow the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to pass aid to Ukraine, despite the GOP