The House will vote on a bill this week to provide $17.6 billion in new military aid to Israel to support the mass killing of Palestinians in Gaza.
The House previously passed a $14.3 billion resolution for Israel but cut funds to the Internal Revenue Service, so it didn’t receive support from Democrats and was never brought to the Senate floor for a vote.
The new bill adds over $3 billion for Israel and does not include spending cuts. Over in the Senate, negotiators reached a deal on border policy to advance a behemoth $110 spending bill that includes military aid for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. However, many Republicans are unhappy with the deal, and Johnson criticized Senate leadership for not including the House in negotiations.
“Their leadership is aware that by failing to include the House in their negotiations, they have eliminated the ability for swift consideration of any legislation,” Johnson said on Saturday. “Next week, we will take up and pass a clean, standalone Israel supplemental package.”
According to the House Appropriations Committee, the $17.6 billion includes funds to replenish Israel’s missile systems, provide Israel with advanced weapons systems, and produce more bombs and artillery shells. It also provides funding to replenish US stockpiles of weapons that have already been sent to Israel.
The $17.6 billion is on top of the $3.8 billion Israel receives from the US each year. The US has also shipped a huge amount of munitions and other weapons to support the slaughter in Gaza, which has killed over 27,000 Palestinians, including over 11,500 children.
The International Court of Justice’s ruling that it’s “plausible” Israel is committing genocide has not deterred US support. According to Ynet, over 25,000 tons of US weapons have been delivered to Israel since October 7.
This article was originally featured at Antiwar.com and is republished with permission.
