For the second time in recent months, a majority of House Democrats have voted against Israel’s aid by the U.S. Surprisingly, Republicans are also voting against the aid. For many of them, they would only vote for it if it is paired with more Ukraine aid.
The U.S. was sending various types of ammunition, aircraft carriers, and fighter jets to Israel after the Hamas attacks on October 7th. They were also sending financial aid to Ukraine, grossing billions of dollars, but this has stopped. Therefore, many want to continue sending aid of over $60 billion to Ukraine.
However, it seems like it will be difficult to do so without attaching it to Israel’s aid. Some Democrats also voted against Israel’s aid due to a sense of frustration with the way they are handling the war in Gaza.
Since the Hamas attacks on October 7th, 2023, Israel has launched a full-blown war against Palestine. 1,400 Israelites died in October, but Israel has killed over 27,000 Palestinians since then. From what the media covers, Israel has the upper hand against a defenseless Gaza.
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Therefore, the Democrats believe Israel’s aid can wait. They are in no apparent danger and have the upper hand in the war. Democratic Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia said that he supported sending aid to Israel, but he doesn’t see it as an urgent situation.
“If anything, the way they’ve conducted this war has made them pariahs in the greater world. Israel is not about to be taken over by anybody,” he said.
“October 7 was a terrible, evil attack, and I mourn the 1400 dead, but I’m not worried about the existence of the State of Israel.” He also believes that Ukraine’s state is more urgent as Russia can take over at any time.
Before this, the U.S. supported Israel with a strong bipartisan consensus. Over the last several decades, they have been the highest recipients of military aid from America. They received over $158 billion cumulatively. Every fiscal year since 2019, the country has sent $3.8 billion to Israel.
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This time, the congress was to endorse $11.7 billion to Israel. According to some of the voters, they had no problem sending more money or ammunition to Israel but would only do so if the government agreed to send funds to Palestine.
The people of Gaza are struggling to get basic humanitarian aid. Therefore, it seems inhumane to keep providing Israel with weapons while Palestinians die of starvation.
“To provide billions in weapons and materials for Israel’s war effort without a dime to meet basic Palestinian humanitarian needs is counter to America’s and Israel’s interests and values,” said J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami.
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“It hurts our efforts to bring this war to an end. Leaving that out is just despicable.” The bill failed to pass the necessary two-thirds majority, and President Biden threatened to veto the legislation.
However, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer indicated he wouldn’t take it up in the Senate. This is quite similar to what happened back in November 2023. All but 12 House Democrats voted against a bill that would have given more than $14 billion to Israel, dismissing it as unreasonable.
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