Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday removed $1 billion in military funding for Israel from the US funding bill, after objections from liberals in the House of Representatives, Reuters reports.
Some House Democrats objected to a provision in a stopgap spending bill to provide the additional funding so Israel can replenish its Iron Dome missile-defense system, Reuters added. The House is debating legislation to fund the federal government through December 3 and raise the nation’s borrowing limit.
An additional $1 billion in US aid to Israel has been removed from a bill by Democrats trying to prevent a government shut-down – a move seen as unprecedented given America's long-time loyalty to Israel.https://t.co/yOWpvwKeRN
— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) September 22, 2021
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., an advocate of the aid, said he’d put the funding in a separate bill and bring it to the floor later this week, according to Reuters.
The United States has already provided more than $1.6 billion for Israel to develop and build the Iron Dome system, according to a US Congressional Research Service report last year.
An August 2021 Chicago Council Survey showed that 50% of Americans favor restricting military aid to Israel in operations that target Palestinians, as opposed to 45% who oppose it. Democrats overwhelmingly support it at 62% https://t.co/bjtRdDBSpK
— Al-Shabaka الشبكة (@AlShabaka) September 17, 2021
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said in a statement that the removal of the funding was “a technical postponement” and he had been assured by US Democratic leaders that funds for Iron Dome would be transferred soon.
However, an August 2021 Chicago Council Survey showed that 50% of Americans favor restricting military aid to Israel in operations that target Palestinians and that Democrats overwhelmingly support it at 62%, the Palestinian policy network Al-Shabaka recently reported.
Some liberal Democrats objected to US-Israel policy this year, citing the many Palestinian casualties after Israel struck the besieged Gaza Strip in May.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
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