The GOP-led House is gearing up for a comprehensive push to counter President Joe Biden’s halt on weapon transfers to Israel in its war against terrorist group Hamas, Axios reported on Saturday.
The Biden administration delayed sending military equipment to Israel after warning the U.S. ally to curtail its military operations against Hamas in Gaza, citing humanitarian concerns.
The alleged Republican plan consists of a vote on a bill next week to prevent the Biden administration from withholding military aid that Congress has approved for Israel, Axios reported.
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Majority Leader Steve Scalise said the House could vote on the Israel Security Assistance Support Act as soon as Wednesday, according to Axios. The bill also compels the Biden administration to distribute aid to Israel that had already been approved by Congress and require any withheld weapons to be shipped within 15 days.
“I assume they are trying to divide us,” a senior House Democrat told Axios anonymously. “I also expect that some Democrats will vote with them.”
Fewer Democrats may support the bill than the typical group that tends to back pro-Israel Republican legislation, the lawmaker told Axios.
“The question is whether they want to restrict [Biden’s] authority entirely or not. … Whether leadership whips is one question, but then it’s also difficult to tell how far they would go in constraining the authority of the president under any circumstances,” the Democrat told Axios.
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The House Oversight Committee on Friday initiated a probe into the aid pause, writing in a letter to White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan that it “is alarmed by the Biden Administration’s willingness to play political games with U.S. taxpayer funded assistance going to Israel.”
Biden threatened in an interview with CNN Wednesday that if Israel went into the populated areas of Rafah, he would shut off offensive aid. Democratic donor and Israeli American Haim Saban sent an email to White House officials following the president’s threat, asking the staff to inform Biden of his opposition, Axios reported.
“Bad, Bad, Bad, decision, on all levels, Pls reconsider,” Saban wrote in the email, according to Axios. “Let’s not forget that there are more Jewish voters, who care about Israel, than Muslim voters that care about Hamas.”
Scalise and the White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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