War in the Middle East
Domestic political dispute in the USA blocks aid to Israel
US President Joe Biden could veto the law if necessary. photo
© Andrew Harnik/AP/dpa
A serious conflict is raging in the Middle East. Israel is also relying on financial and military support from the USA in its war against Hamas. But that is a long time coming.
Domestic political dispute between Democrats and Republicans in the American Parliament is blocking US aid in the middle of the Middle East crisis Israel.
The US House of Representatives passed a bill with billions in support for Israel on Thursday. 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.
Disagreements between Democrats and Republicans
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 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 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.
Resistance from the White House
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 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.