House Republicans on Monday unveiled a new aid package for Israel that would help finance the war against Hamas to the tune of $14.3 billion.
The bill, which largely includes military aid, aims to shore up Israel’s defenses as it launches a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip in what has become an aggressive and bloody campaign to root out Hamas.
But the money would come from IRS money appropriated in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act — a prospect sure to frighten Democrats.
The Democratic-led Senate is unlikely to accept or approve emergency aid with offsets, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer signaled. The New York Democrat has also said he wants to approve an aid package that includes money for other countries such as Ukraine and not just Israel.
‘We’ll have to pay for it. We’re not just going to print money and send it abroad,” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Fox News about the bill
‘We’ll have to pay for it. We’re not just going to print money and send it abroad,” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Fox News about the bill.
But Schumer said of the bill: “We believe that, as a Democratic Caucus, we have to do it all together: Israel, Ukraine, the South Pacific, etc. And obviously that kind of reward makes it much harder to pass.” .’
He said he plans to call Schumer to convince him to raise the matter in the Senate.
“I understand that their priority is to make the IRS bigger, but I think if you put this to the American people and they weigh the two needs, I think they’ll say we’re on Israel’s side.” and protect the innocent…our national interest and is a more immediate need than IRS agents,” Johnson said.
After a debt cap deal that scaled back some of the $80 billion the Inflation Reduction Act allocated to the IRS, there is currently about $67 billion in additional funding available to the agency, largely to strengthen enforcement.
Johnson said he hopes the bill’s passage will be bipartisan. He is likely to lose a handful of Republican votes from his party’s right flank, which opposes further foreign aid.
Libertarian-leaning Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., has already voiced his opposition to X, as has Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.
Rep. Richie Neal, the top Democrat on the Way and Means Committee, accused Republicans of trying to score “political points.”
“The IRS has recovered more than $100 million in unpaid taxes from the wealthy and well-connected in the past month. But in the chaotic world of my Republican colleagues, they view this funding as a never-ending source to peddle their whims of ‘fiscal responsibility’… Again, leaving the world wondering if they even feel like sending aid to one of our greatest allies or just score political points.’
Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel earlier this month, killing some 1,400 Israelis and capturing more than 200.
In response, Israel launched its own rocket attacks and has now turned to a ground invasion. The Palestinian death toll in Gaza has surpassed 8,000, largely made up of women and children, according to the regional health ministry.
Communications with Gaza’s 2.3 million residents were restored on Monday after an Israeli bombardment last weekend knocked out phone and internet services on Friday.
Flames and smoke rise in Tel al-Hawa neighborhood as Israeli attacks continue on 24th day in Gaza City, Gaza on October 30
A photo taken from southern Lebanon near the border with Israel shows smoke rising near the northern Israeli kibbutz Kfar Giladi on October 30, 2023, after Lebanese shelling amid rising cross-border tensions
The Israeli army said on Sunday it had hit more than 450 militant targets in the past 24 hours. Israel says it is targeting Hamas fighters, but they are hiding under cover of civilian territory.
Israel warned residents of the northern part of Gaza to flee – and some 1.4 million people have been forced to leave their homes to move south.
On Monday, Hamas released videos of Israeli prisoners demanding a prisoner exchange.
The aid only ended up in Gaza: 33 trucks with food, water and medicine were allowed to enter via Egypt on Sunday. President Biden called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday to emphasize the need to “immediately and significantly increase the flow of humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of civilians in Gaza,” the White House said.
The conflict has caused turmoil among the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hezbollah soldiers are now firing rockets along Israel’s northern border.