2023-11-02 23:59:10
The goal is clear: US aid to Israel worth billions. But Republicans and Democrats argue about how to get there. A new resolution from the House of Representatives has no chance in the Senate.
Domestic political dispute between Democrats and Republicans in Congress is blocking US aid to Israel. The US House of Representatives, dominated by Republicans, passed a bill with billions in support for Israel on Thursday (local time). However, the aid is linked to conditions that US President Joe Biden and his Democrats reject. The legislative plans therefore have no chance of being passed by the Senate and ultimately coming into force.
A few days ago, Biden requested an aid package worth around 105 billion US dollars (a good 99 billion euros) from Congress, which, among other things, provides for large-scale support for Israel and Ukraine. However, some Republicans in the House of Representatives have reservations about sending more aid to Ukraine. They wanted to vote separately on support for Ukraine and Israel.
The Republican leadership in the House of Representatives therefore made a separation and initially presented a package solely on Israel. The draft that has now been approved provides aid for Israel amounting to 14.3 billion dollars (13.46 billion euros). To counter-finance this, however, cuts to the US tax authority (IRS) to the same extent are planned. Biden and his Democrats are therefore accusing the Republicans of wanting to politicize aid to Israel and trying to use it to push through their domestic agenda.
“Extremely inadequate”
Biden’s Democrats have a narrow majority in the other chamber of Congress, the Senate. The initiative has no chance of success there. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday the chamber would not even take up the Republicans’ “extremely flawed” proposal. The White House has also announced resistance and has already threatened that Biden would veto the law if necessary.
Behind the dispute is a fundamental dispute: Republican representatives, especially from the right-wing fringe, have long been opposed to large government spending in the country and are demanding more austerity. Due to the dispute between both parties and internal battles among the Republicans, it is unclear whether and when the US Parliament could approve further aid to Ukraine.
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