The bill, allocating $26 billion for Israel, passed by a 366-58 margin, with 37 Democrats and 21 Republicans voting against it.
The United States House of Representatives approved a $95 billion legislative package on Saturday, aimed at providing assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
The bill passed despite objections from Democratic and Republican lawmakers, paving the way for consideration in the Democratic-majority Senate, which had previously passed a similar measure over two months ago.
Both Democratic President Joe Biden and top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell had urged Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring the bill to a vote.
US House passes US$95 billion Ukraine, Taiwan, Israel aid package; sends to Senate https://t.co/TniNPCkUEo pic.twitter.com/vsJV25VFhx
— CNA (@ChannelNewsAsia) April 20, 2024
The legislation allocates $60.84 billion to address the conflict in Ukraine, including $23 billion for replenishing U.S. weapons and supplies, $26 billion for Israel, with $9.1 billion earmarked for humanitarian aid, and $8.12 billion for the Indo-Pacific, including Taiwan.
Bipartisan Opposition
The bill, allocating $26 billion for Israel, passed by a 366-58 margin, with 37 Democrats and 21 Republicans voting against it.
In a move that the New-York based news website Business Insider calls “unconventional”, the bill “will be sent to the Senate as part of a package that includes aid for Ukraine and Taiwan and a third bill that forces a sale of TikTok and allows the United States to confiscate Russian assets”.
Below are the Democratic lawmakers who voted against the aid package to Israel:
Becca Balint of Vermont
Don Beyer of Virginia
Earl Blumenauer of Oregon
Jamaal Bowman of New York
Cori Bush of Missouri
Andre Carson of Indiana
Greg Casar of Texas
Joaquin Castro of Texas
Judy Chu of California
Mark DeSaulnier of California
Lloyd Doggett of Texas
Maxwell Frost of Florida
John Garamendi of California
Chuy García of Illinois
Al Green of Texas
Jonathan Jackson of Illinois
Pramila Jayapal of Washington
Hank Johnson of Georgia
Ro Khanna of California
Dan Kildee of Michigan
Barbara Lee of California
Summer Lee of Pennsylvania
Jim McGovern of Massachusetts
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York
Ilhan Omar of Minnesota
Chellie Pingree of Maine
Mark Pocan of Wisconsin
Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts
Delia Ramirez of Illinois
Jamie Raskin of Maryland
Mark Takano of California
Bennie Thompson of Mississippi
Rashida Tlaib of Michigan
Jill Tokuda of Hawaii
Nydia Velázquez of New York
Maxine Waters of California
Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey
As the US Congress is debating a new aid package for Israel, Palestinian American congresswoman Rashida Tlaib called on her colleagues to stop giving money without conditions to a “genocidal maniac” pic.twitter.com/Gdp9cGshg6
— TRT World (@trtworld) February 8, 2024
Below are the Republican lawmakers who opposed the bill:
Andy Biggs of Arizona
Lauren Boebert of Colorado
Tim Burchett of Tennessee
Andrew Clyde of Georgia
Eli Crane of Arizona
Warren Davidson of Ohio
Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee
Matt Gaetz of Florida
Bob Good of Virginia
Paul Gosar of Arizona
Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia
Andy Harris of Maryland
Thomas Massie of Kentucky
Cory Mills of Florida
Troy Nehls of Texas
Ralph Norman of South Carolina
Scott Perry of Pennsylvania
Matt Rosendale of Montana
Chip Roy of Texas
Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin
Ryan Zinke of Montana
Although some lawmakers had already opposed aid packages to Israel, “Saturday’s vote was different,” according to Business Insider.
“The significant number of Democrats who voted against Israel aid shows how quickly the issue has shifted in recent months,” the report said.
Progressive Jewish Democrat Becca Balint reportedly said ahead of the vote that “the United States cannot continue to support the extreme offensive that has caused unimaginable suffering to the Palestinian people.”
Hamas: US Bears Political, Legal and Moral Responsibility
In a statement on Sunday, the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas condemned the measure, saying that the bill is a “confirmation of the official US complicity and partnership in the genocide being waged by the fascist occupation army against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip”.
“The US. administration and President (Joe) Biden personally bear political, legal, and moral responsibility for the war crimes committed by the criminal zionist entity against our Palestinian people,” the statement read.
Hamas added that this support “violates international law and constitutes a license and green light for the extremist zionist government to continue its brutal aggression against our people, and the blatant violation of all international laws and humanitarian norms.”
Gaza Genocide
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 34,097 Palestinians have been killed, and 76,980 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
(The Palestine Chronicle)