House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday marked the one-month anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel by bringing families of some of the Jewish hostages to the Capitol and increasing pressure on the Democratic-run Senate to pass the Republicans’ war aid bill.
Mr. Johnson said Congress cannot waste any more time in supporting Israel with the House-passed $14.3 billion aid package.
“We are requesting, encouraging the White House and the Senate Democrats … to complete that package to get it over the line so that we can get Israel the support and assistance it needs,” Mr. Johnson said at a press conference.
The House passed the aid package focused on military support last week, but President Biden and the Senate rejected the measure because it is funded by clawing back a huge allocation increase to the IRS.
To hammer home his point, Mr. Johnson stood with the families of Hamas hostages. The terrorist group that rules the Gaza Strip brutally killed 1,400 people in Israel on Oct. 7 and took more than 200 hostages.
The families of Alon Shamriz, Guy Illuz and brothers Gali and Ziv Berman pleaded for help to vanquish Hamas and return their loved ones.
Mr. Illuz was shot in the arm at the Nova music festival, where Hamas terrorists killed at least 260 people on Oct. 7. His mother, Doris Liber, said the last time she spoke with her son was when he called from the festival grounds preparing to say his last words. She could hear gunfire in the background and got off the line to call for help.
She has not heard from him since.
“I’m here because it’s been 30 days. Every day is like eternity to me, and I can’t wait any longer because I know that he was shot,” Ms. Liber said. “We don’t have a list of the hostages. We don’t know their condition. I don’t have anything. So I need your help.”
Yonatan Lulu-Shamriz, flanked by his brother Ido Lulu-Shamriz, recalled that Hamas seized their brother Alon from his safe room in the Kibbutz Kfar Afa apartments. He said Israel needed help now.
“This is a call for action. And this is a wake-up call. Not only for Israel or only for the Jewish community. This is a wake-up call for all, all of you here, all of America, all of Europe. You are next, you are next, and we should do everything that we can to stop these atrocities,” Mr. Lulu-Shamriz said.
Hamas abducted Gali Berman and Ziv Berman from the same Kibbutz Kfar Afa apartments. Their brother Liran Berman has no idea what has happened to them over the past month.
“We only know that they are in Gaza,” Mr. Berman said. “We don’t know if they are injured.”
The House’s aid package for Israel is starkly different in scope from Mr. Biden’s $106 billion emergency request, which includes money for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan and funding to process illegal immigrants crossing the U.S. border.
Senate Democrats and the White House have accused House Republicans of playing partisan politics with the aid and vowed to torpedo the bill.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, is sticking to Mr. Biden’s request for a catchall aid bill.
He doesn’t have a clear path to pass the bill because Senate Republicans demand that it include tough border security measures to stem the surge of illegal immigrants into the U.S. That provision is a non-starter for Democrats.
Mr. Johnson also would be reluctant to take up the Senate bill because of House Republican opposition to the Ukraine aid. He recently told Senate Republicans that he would consider a vote on a separate Ukraine aid bill but was focusing on the stand-alone aid for Israel.
Mr. Johnson pushed back on criticism by canceling extra money for the IRS provided by the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act.
“Some of our Senate colleagues took issue with the pay-for that we put in there, but I made the point that we can take care of our allies and obligations and get our own fiscal house in order,” Mr. Johnson said.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the IRS cuts would add nearly $30 billion to the U.S. budget deficit. Republicans argue that the money in Americans’ pockets doesn’t belong to the government and shouldn’t be counted as lost revenue.
Meanwhile, fighting continues to rage between Israel and Hamas with little signs of slowing down. The White House and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled out a complete cease-fire.
Mr. Biden recently suggested a short pause in fighting to allow Palestinian civilians to leave Gaza. Mr. Netanyahu told ABC News that he would be open to “little tactical pauses [for] an hour here, an hour there” to allow humanitarian aid to reach the Gaza Strip.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Louisiana Republican, balked at pausing the war.
“This is not a time to be talking about cease-fires, pauses,” Mr. Scalise said. “Hamas gave that up on [Oct. 7] when they went into villages and slaughtered people, when they attacked music festivals, peaceful music festivals, mowing down people, taking more hostages, including American citizens.”
• Ramsey Touchberry contributed to this report.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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