The American aid spigot should continue to flow. The US House of Representatives approved a new multibillion-dollar military package for Israel on Saturday, despite concerns from the international community over the fate of civilians in Gaza. These funds will be used in particular to strengthen the Israeli anti-missile shield, the famous “Iron Dome”. The text must now be approved in the Senate, where a first vote could take place as early as Tuesday.
“The American Congress has just overwhelmingly adopted a much-welcomed aid bill that demonstrates strong bipartisan support for Israel and defends Western civilization,” wrote Benyamin Netanyahu on X, against the backdrop of war with Palestinian Hamas and growing tensions with Iran. “Thank you to our friends, thank you to America!” » added the Israeli Prime Minister.
His head of diplomacy also welcomed the vote in the American House of Representatives while the Israeli army has been mobilized for more than six months in the Gaza Strip against Hamas and on the Lebanese border where exchanges of fire with pro-Iranian Hezbollah are almost daily. This vote “proves the close ties and strategic partnership between Israel and the United States and sends a strong message to our enemies,” Israel Katz said on his X account.
Satisfaction for Biden, complaint to Moscow
US President Joe Biden welcomed the adoption on Saturday by the House of Representatives of “crucial aid”, at the “meeting of history”. This envelope of 95 billion dollars, divided between Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, sends “a clear message about the power of American leadership throughout the world,” said the Democratic leader. He urged the Senate to approve these envelopes as quickly as possible.
Unsurprisingly, the reception of the vote was much more frosty in Moscow. “The allocation of military aid from the United States to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan will exacerbate global crises,” denounced the spokesperson for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova, on Telegram. Military aid (…) to Israel: a direct path towards an unprecedented worsening of the situation in the region. »
Israel is engaged in a standoff with Iran, its sworn enemy. In retaliation for a strike on its consulate on April 1 in Damascus and attributed to Israel, Tehran launched a deluge of drones and missiles on Israeli territory a week ago. Thanks to the help of its American ally, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, but also Jordan and Saudi Arabia, the Iranian projectiles were almost all intercepted.