A growing number of Democrats on Capitol Hill want to impose conditions on a proposed $14.3 billion for Israel to fight Hamas terrorists.
The desire to attach strings to Israel’s aid, which would be a first in a long history of U.S. support for its closest Middle East ally, is in response to the climbing death toll in the Gaza Strip.
It’s also the latest sign of the growing split in the Democratic Party over the Israel-Hamas conflict and another roadblock to the already slow-moving emergency aid package for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan.
Senate Democrats who support conditions insist it is nothing out of the ordinary.
“There’s always been conditions on American aid,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat, told The Washington Times. “We have always required that aid be used consistent with international law and domestic law, and we provide aid consistent with our values here at home.”
With Hamas reporting that the civilian death toll in Gaza has topped 15,000 people, Democrats — particularly liberals — assert that Israel may be violating international law.
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“Every bill that we do, especially bills on money, there’s shaping to it,” Sen. Tim Kaine, Virginia Democrat, said. “This bill will be no different, and it will be no different in the Ukraine piece.”
Republicans and Democrats in the Senate are working to cobble together a broad aid package for Israel, Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific and humanitarian assistance for Gaza. But the two sides remain stalled over GOP calls for border security measures to stem the record influx of migrants across the U.S. southern border.
Adding stipulations on Israel’s portion threatens to derail the legislation in the Democratic-led Senate.
Democratic leaders and President Biden have rebuffed calls for conditions on the aid while urging Israel to take greater precautions to avoid civilian deaths. Mr. Biden said conditions are “a worthwhile thought” but added that his “deep, personal and private engagement … has led to a substantial and increasing amount of humanitarian assistance going into Gaza.”
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with concerned Democratic senators this week.
“It’s been spoken about in our caucus meeting on many occasions,” Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, told reporters. “There are different views on that, and we’re going to have to have a discussion with the caucus and the administration.”
Mr. Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in U.S. history, gave an impassioned 45-minute Senate floor speech Wednesday about the rising antisemitism that he called “a five-alarm fire that must be extinguished.”
The U.S. provides $3.8 billion each year in military assistance to Israel and does not stipulate how it can or cannot be used, much like the aid that the U.S. provides to other countries, including Ukraine.
Sen. John Fetterman, Pennsylvania Democrat, has more liberal views than many of his colleagues but has been steadfast in his support for Israel.
“I will not have any kind of conditions or anything like that,” he said. “Certainly not before the hostages are brought back or Hamas is destroyed. I can’t imagine ever changing on that.”
The push to attach strings to the aid prompted Republicans to question Democrats’ support for Israel.
“If Senate Democrats want to vote to tie the hands of Israeli soldiers as they defend their country against vicious terrorists, I welcome such a debate,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, said in a speech on the Senate floor.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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