A group of left-leaning House Democrats is urging colleagues to oppose a $26 billion aid package for Israel, hoping to maximize “no” votes from the party and send a warning to President Biden about the level of discontent among his political coalition. about his support for Israel's tactics in Gaza.
Framing the upcoming vote as a choice as morally decisive as Congress's votes to authorize and fund the Iraq war, progressive leaders in the House is trying to rally a sizable bloc of Democrats to oppose the aid measure, which is expected to pass. on Saturday and becomes law in the coming days.
“After those votes, people came in much later and said, 'We shouldn't allow that to continue,'” said Representative Pramila Jayapal, Democrat of Washington and chair of the Level Caucus. Congress, talking about the debate decades ago about Iraq. “And I think this is that moment.”
Representative Joaquin Castro, Democrat of Texas, called it a “decisive vote,” adding, “We either participate in the carnage, or we don't.”
There is little doubt that the bill would send approx 13 billion USD in military support for Israel as it continues its offensive in Gaza, will pass the House along with money for Ukraine, Taiwan and other US allies.
But progressive Democrats estimate that 40 to 60 members of their party could oppose it in the House on Saturday. That would be a striking signal from Congress, where unwavering bipartisan support for Israel has long been the norm. And it will highlight the deep divisions that the war in Gaza has sown within the Democratic Party, even as many Democrats including Mr. Biden have begun to criticize Trump's approach to the conflict. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called on him to better protect civilians.
The legislation would allocate $5 billion for Israel's defense capabilities and $9 billion for “humanitarian aid worldwide,” including to civilians in Gaza. But it would not place additional conditions on how Israel can use American military aid, nor would it block future arms transfers from the United States as a growing number of Democrats seek to do.
The Democratic Party leading the campaign against Israel's aid bill said it strongly supports the Jewish state and its right to self-defense, and will vote in favor of sending military aid to support Israel. supporting Israel's defense capabilities, such as the addition of Iron Dome, David's Sling. and the Iron Beam defense system. They also denounced the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas as causing the war, and said the hostages taken by Hamas must be released.
But they argue that approving more offensive weapons without conditions is an unacceptable political and moral stance, tantamount to endorsing Mr. Netanyahu's prosecution of war, including including the intention to invade Rafah over the objections of the Biden administration. According to the Ministry of Health there, more than 33,000 people in Gaza have died since the start of the conflict and people are facing a famine crisis.
“I understand the need for defensive weapons for Israel, especially in light of Iran's attack,” said Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, running his first campaign on the platform. anti-war leader and helped lead efforts to end American involvement in the war, said. in Yemen. “But there is no reason to supply Netanyahu with bombs and weapons to continue the war in Gaza that is killing thousands of innocent Palestinian women and children.”
Saturday's vote will recall a similar situation from 2007, when then-speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, split part of the spending legislation allowed Democrats to demonstrate their opposition to funding the Iraq war while also supporting the domestic funding bill. Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, similar division The foreign aid package will be considered on Saturday to bring each element across the finish line when faced with separate resistance alliances to different parts of the invoice.
IN an important test vote on FridayThe House agreed, 316 to 94, to introduce the package, with 39 Democrats — mostly progressives — joining 55 Republicans in opposition.
“This is the time for members of Congress who support a safe and secure Israel to send a message that providing Netanyahu with more offensive weapons is not the path to peace and security for the people.” Israel and the Palestinians,” Representative Becca Balint, Democrat of Vermont and the first Jewish Member of Congress to call for a ceasefire, said in an interview. “I believe that providing Netanyahu with more offensive weapons at this stage is to condone the destruction of Gaza that we have seen over the past six months. And that was also the green light for an invasion of Rafah.”
Representative Lloyd Doggett, a Texas Democrat who led opposition to funding of the 2007 Iraq war, said conversations among Democrats in Congress opposed U.S. continues to support the war in Gaza “no different” from conversations that took place 17 years ago.
“We will likely be voting on whether a broader war will take place and whether American weapons will lead to the deaths of thousands of innocent people,” Mr. Doggett said.
Democrats who oppose an aid package for Israel represent a minority in their caucus. But they see the “no” vote as part of a strategy to pressure Mr. Biden to condition aid and halt future transfers of offensive weapons. Through multiple meetings, text chains and conversations with the administration, they have worked to change the president's approach to Israel, while emphasizing the electoral risks Mr. Biden faces among those voters helped him win the White House in 2020 and are now angry about Mr. Biden. handle war.
“The only way to get a course correction is for a large number of the Democratic caucus to say it has to change,” Ms. Balint said.
Representative Dan Kildee, a Michigan Democrat who has pressed Mr. Biden to deny providing offensive weapons to Israel, said a major “no” vote would strengthen the president's power to do like that.
“It helps the administration get some Democrats to express themselves this way,” he said.
Representative Greg Casar, a Democrat from Texas, said he hoped the significant number of Democrats opposing the bill would give the Biden administration greater leverage to influence how it approaches the election. war by the Israeli government.
“I hope this vote will show the world that there is a really significant part of the United States that does not want to see ever-expanding wars,” he said.
