WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday rejecting President Joe Biden’s decision to withhold some military aid to Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
The 224-187 poll agreed to a bill released over the weekend by a handful of Republicans that, among other things, “calls on the Biden administration to expedite all previously approved arms transfers to Israel to ensure Israel can defend itself and deter threats from Iran and its proxies.” , including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis.”
The measure states that withheld military aid “shall be delivered to Israel no later than 15 days after the bill’s enactment” and requires the secretaries of defense and foreign affairs to commit all funding to Israel within 30 days of the bill’s enactment.
The bill now goes to the Senate, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, is unlikely to bring it to a vote. The White House threatened to veto the bill.
“The president has already said he would veto it, so it won’t do anything,” Schumer said Wednesday.
On a Thursday morning press conference Outside the U.S. Capitol, House Speaker Mike Johnson accused Biden of encouraging Iran and “using its authority to defend himself politically.”
“Israel must finish the job and America must help Israel extinguish the flame of terror fueled by Hamas. It wasn’t that long ago that President Biden called for the elimination of Hamas. But he doesn’t do that anymore. And now it is clear that Biden and Schumer have turned their backs on Israel. They are transporting water for Iran and its proxies,” said Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana.
House Speaker Tom Cole of Oklahoma; Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Ken Calvert of California; Mario Díaz-Balart of Florida, chairman of the Subcommittee on Appropriations for State and Foreign Operations; Financial Services Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman David Joyce of Ohio released the nine-page bill this weekend.
Quiet break
The legislation comes weeks after the Biden administration quietly halted a shipment of heavy bombs to Israel over fears that more civilians in Gaza could be killed by U.S.-supplied weapons.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, the death toll in Gaza has reached more than 35,000. Biden faces fierce opposition from progressives, including prominent figures Protests on university campusesabout Israel’s continued offensive following the Hamas attack on October 7th.
The previously planned single shipment, which was suspended in tardy April, included 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs, according to a May 9 Pentagon update.
Pentagon spokesman Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters on May 9 that the administration “has not made a final decision on how to proceed with this delivery.”
“And as you know, we have provided billions of dollars in security assistance to Israel. Most recently, we supported them in their defense efforts [during] Iran’s unprecedented attack. Therefore, there should be no question that we will continue to stand with Israel in its defense,” Ryder said during a press conference.
In mid-April, the United States and its allies shot down dozens of drones and missiles that Iran had fired at Israel. after to the Pentagon.
That was Israel biggest He has been the recipient of U.S. financial support since World War II, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.
Some Democrats in the House of Representatives, including Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, expressed concern about the administration’s suspended delivery despite voting against the bill on Thursday.
“President Biden has been an unwavering advocate for Israel over the past seven months. “His administration must stay the course and avoid the impression that our support is waning,” Wasserman Schultz said in a statement Friday.
“In order to target the remaining Hamas fighters while minimizing damage to the civilian population, we must combine our best forces. I share the President’s concern for Palestinian civilians serving as human shields and understand the risks posed by a full-scale invasion of Rafah. However, we must remember that Hamas seeks to sacrifice as many Palestinian lives as possible and, as part of its cowardly public relations campaign, wants to maximize the civilian casualties of this operation,” she continued.
Numerous media Reports quote congressmen saying the White House is poised to approve a $1 billion arms transfer to Israel.
When asked by reporters on Thursday about the reported deal, Johnson criticized it as “window dressing” to give Biden “political cover.”
The White House “strongly” opposes the bill
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during Monday’s press conference that the administration does not support the law.
“We strongly oppose attempts to limit the president’s ability to provide U.S. security assistance consistent with U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives,” she said.
Jean-Pierre added that the Biden administration plans to “spend every last penny in line with legal obligations.”
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said during the same news conference that the administration had “paused a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs because we don’t believe they should be dropped in densely populated cities.”
“We still believe that it would be a mistake to launch a major military operation in the heart of Rafah that would endanger large numbers of civilians without a clear strategic gain,” Sullivan said. “The president was clear that in the event of such an operation he would not provide certain offensive weapons.”
Sullivan said the Biden administration is working with the Israeli government “on a better way to ensure the defeat of Hamas everywhere in Gaza, including in Rafah.” He also noted that the US “continues to provide military assistance” to Israel.
The White House Approved On Tuesday, the government released a government policy statement further criticizing the legislation and threatening to veto it.
“The bill is a misguided response to a deliberate distortion of the government’s approach to Israel,” it said. “The president has made it clear: We will always ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself.”
