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Rashida Tlaib addresses US Congress about aid to Israel. (Photo: Video Grab)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

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.

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

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)

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