Congress denies $1 billion to Israhell - for a few days

[yankeedoodle]

Extra $1 Billion in Military Aid for Israel Stripped From House Stopgap Funding Bill
US lawmakers are assuring Israel that the extra funds will be provided   [operative words]
https://news.antiwar.com/2021/09/21/extra-1-billion-in-military-aid-for-israel-stripped-from-house-stopgap-funding-bill/

House Democrats removed $1 billion for additional military aid for Israel from a stopgap funding bill that was passed in the House on Tuesday.

The $1 billion would be on top of the $3.8 billion the US already gives Israel each year. Israel requested the additional amount after its bombardment in Gaza in May, which killed over 250 Palestinians, including over 60 children.

The Israeli say they need the money to restock the iron dome missile defense system. But when the request was first reported, Israeli officials also said they would also use the money to purchase munitions, mainly precision-guided bombs for the Israeli Air Force.

The stopgap bill is being pushed through to avert a government shutdown, but it could fail in the Senate. The $1 billion for Israel was removed over protests by progressive Democrats, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). Since no Republicans were expected to vote for the bill, Democratic leadership needed the support of the progressives to pass the legislation.

US lawmakers were quick to assure Israel that it will get its money. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) promised to bring the extra $1 billion to a vote in the House as early as this week during a call with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid. "This evening, I announced on the Floor that the House will consider legislation this week to fully fund Iron Dome," Hoyer wrote on Twitter. Other members of Congress said the extra $1 billion will be included in the 2022 defense appropriations bill.

[yankeedoodle]

Didn't take long, did it?

Bill to provide $1bn for Israel Iron Dome system introduced in US Congress
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210923-bill-to-provide-1bn-for-israel-iron-dome-system-introduced-in-us-congress/

The leader of the US House of Representatives Appropriations Committee yesterday introduced legislation to provide $1 billion to Israel to replenish its Iron Dome missile defence system, a day after the funding was removed from a broader spending bill, Reuters reports.

Some of the most liberal House Democrats had objected to the provision and said they would vote against the broad spending bill. This threatened its passage because Republicans were lined up against the plan to fund the federal government through 3 December and raise the nation's borrowing limit.

The removal led Republicans to label Democrats as anti-Israel, despite a long tradition in the US Congress of strong support from both parties for the Jewish state, to which Washington sends billions of dollars in aid every year.

The United States has already provided more than $1.6 billion for Israel to develop and build the Iron Dome system, according to a Congressional Research Service report last year.

Some liberal Democrats have voiced concerns this year about US-Israel policy, citing among other things the many Palestinian casualties to Israeli air strikes in May.

The bill introduced yesterday by Representative Rosa DeLauro provides $1 billion to replace missile interceptors used during that conflict.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer had said on Tuesday evening he would bring the Iron Dome bill to the House floor later this week.