A group of prominent Democrats in the House of Representatives has urged President Joe Biden s administration to end the lack of U.S. enforcement of human rights law as the country continues its military support for Israel suggesting an Israeli culture of impunity is driving bloodshed in the Palestinian territories and in Lebanon, which Israel invaded earlier this week.

The failure of the United States to consistently apply our own laws actively endangers the lives of US citizens, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) and four colleagues argue in a letter they sent the Pentagon and State Department this week and exclusively shared with HuffPost.

Israeli forces have killed several Americans in the occupied West Bank, most recently Aysenur Ezgi Eygi on Sept. 6, they note. They also cite credible reports of Israeli officials subjecting detained Palestinians to torture, sexual abuse and mistreatment , as well as Israeli troops shooting civilians carrying white flags during their ongoing military campaign in Gaza.

Though small, the Democratic group includes heavyweights: McGovern is the top Democrat on the powerful House Rules Committee, and his co-signatories include Reps. Barbara Lee (Calif.), Mark Pocan (Wis.) and Betty McCollum (Minn.), key players on the House Appropriations Committee that oversees government funding, as well as Rep. Joaquin Castro (Texas) of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Specifically, the legislators highlight the Leahy Law, which bars U.S. funding for foreign military forces that are accused of serious rights abuses.

When it functions properly, the Leahy Law serves two crucial purposes: it prevents U.S. complicity in gross violations of human rights, and it deters violations by incentivizing foreign governments to hold perpetrators accountable, reads the letter, which lawmakers sent Monday. However, the Leahy Law can only serve these purposes when it is enforced.

Washington has never cited the decades-old law to cut off aid to an Israeli military unit. Earlier this year, the Biden administration announced that though U.S. officials had recommended multiple Israeli military units be disqualified from American assistance, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken believed Israel had taken steps to address alleged misconduct and so would not blacklist the units.

Charles Blaha, a former State Department official deeply involved in implementing the Leahy Law, has publicly said he believes the government does not fairly apply it to Israel.

Information that for any other country would without question result in ineligibility [for U.S.-funded assistance] is insufficient for Israeli security force units, Blaha wrote earlier this year. Political considerations, including the possibility of criticism from a foreign government, are not relevant to Leahy law eligibility decisions. But in actual practice, some [U.S. officials] ... include concern about criticism from the government of Israel as a factor in determining whether a unit is ineligible and deciding which cases to send to higher levels for action.

The new congressional letter cites Blahas testimony.