The US House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill to provide $14.3 billion in aid to Israel amid the war against Hamas.
The bill was approved by a majority of 226 to 196, with 12 Democrats joining Republicans to pass it.
Under the bill brought by House Republicans, the funding for the aid to Israel will be reallocated from money that was meant for the IRS in President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
The approval sets up a clash with the Democratic-led Senate, as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called the House GOP bill a “deeply flawed proposal” that the Senate will not take it up.
Democrats are objecting to the fact that the bill does not include aid to Ukraine and would enact funding cuts to the Internal Revenue Service.
Democrats say aid to Israel should not be conditional upon funding cuts.
“The hypocrisy here is that by cutting funding to go after tax cheats, (it) will actually explode the deficit by billions and billions of dollars. What a joke,” Schumer said, as quoted in CNN.
Schumer went on to say that the Senate “will not be considering this deeply flawed proposal from the House GOP. Instead, we will work together on our own bipartisan emergency aid package that includes aid to Israel, Ukraine, competition with the Chinese government and humanitarian aid to Gaza.”
Before the vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) rejected calls by Democrats for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and urged them to vote in favor of the aid to Israel.
“As Israel begins the next phase of its war, I’ve heard Democrats suggest there needs to be a ceasefire. Let us be clear: There was a ceasefire, it was before October 7, and Hamas broke it, and Israelis suffered unspeakable acts of evil, as you’ve heard even recounted here this morning,” Johnson said.
“Israel doesn’t need a ceasefire. It needs its allies to cease with the politics and deliver support now,” he added.
Johnson’s first move after being elected House Speaker last week was to bring to a vote a resolution expressing support for Israel in its war against Hamas.
The resolution, titled “Standing with Israel as it defends itself against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists”, passed by an overwhelming majority of 412 to 10.