Fights in the US Parliament
US aid to Israel fails due to domestic politics
November 2, 2023, 11:53 p.m
The US House of Representatives votes to provide billions of dollars in support for Israel, but the plans will not come into force. A fundamental dispute between Democrats and Republicans is to blame. Further aid to Ukraine is therefore on the horizon.
Domestic political dispute between Democrats and Republicans in the American Parliament is blocking US aid to Israel in the middle of the Middle East crisis. The US House of Representatives passed a bill with billions of dollars in support for Israel. However, the aid is subject to conditions, which in turn meets with vehement resistance from US President Joe Biden and his Democrats. 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 from Congress, which, among other things, provides 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 parliamentary chamber 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. 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. 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 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 between Democrats and Republicans. Republican lawmakers, particularly from the right, have long opposed the country’s large government spending and called for more austerity. Due to the dispute between both parties and internal battles among the Republicans, it is also unclear whether and when the US Parliament could approve further aid to Ukraine.