WASHINGTON (CN) — House Republicans, furious about President Joe Biden’s recent decision to hold a weapons shipment to Israel, on Thursday approved a measure aimed at forcing the shipments.
With the bill unlikely to pass the Senate, the Republican-led effort may largely amount to political symbolism.
Lawmakers voted 224-187 in the lower chamber to pass the legislation, known as the Israel Security Assistance Support Act. If made law, the measure would block the White House from refusing aid shipments to Israel and would withhold certain State Department and Pentagon funding if Biden fails to comply.
Republicans filed the bill in response to the White House’s announcement last week that it would not send a shipment of bombs for use in the Israeli military’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Biden has also said that the U.S. would no longer send military aid to Israel if it carried out an invasion of the city of Rafah in southern Gaza.
The administration has in recent months become increasingly critical of Israel’s war in Gaza, urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to minimize civilian casualties. Nearly 35,000 people have died in Gaza since last fall, including many civilians. More than 75% of citizens in the Palestinian enclave have been displaced from their homes.
The GOP on Thursday accused the White House of going back on its commitment to support Israel after it was attacked by Hamas forces on Oct. 7 last year.
“This administration wants to dictate how Israel executes the war that they were thrust into,” said Texas Representative Michael McCaul, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Speaking on the House floor, the lawmaker accused the White House of prioritizing “a small vocal wing of activists” calling for a tougher stance on Israel’s prosecution of the war rather than “the ironclad commitment that they talked about to stand by Israel.”
“It’s appalling that this legislation is necessary,” said California Representative Ken Calvert, one of the bill’s sponsors — but "the reaction of the Biden administration proves that it is.”
Representative Gregory Meeks, the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Democratic ranking member, took issue with his colleagues’ contention that President Biden had turned his back on Israel. He pointed out that the White House has long supported the country’s right to fight back against Hamas.
Biden’s move to block arms shipments, the New York lawmaker said, comes after months of private pressure on Israel to stop using large warhead ordinance — such as the 2,000-pound bombs and 500-pound bombs included in the paused delivery — in areas densely populated with civilians.
“That approach has not worked,” Meeks said.
The White House is not cutting off all military aid to Israel, Meeks added, but instead clamping down on heavy munitions that kill innocent civilians.
He also slammed his Republican colleagues for bringing forward legislation to hamper the Biden administration’s policy, arguing that it was a jab at bipartisan solidarity on supporting Israel.
“This is a cynical political exercise by my GOP colleagues to attempt to sow division,” he said, “and use the United States-Israel relationship and American security assistance to advance their own political agenda.”
Illinois Representative Brad Schneider, a Democrat and a staunch supporter of Israel, was equally critical of the Republican bill.
“It is wrong to withhold even just one shipment of weapons to Israel as it fights an existential, multipronged war,” said the Democrat. Still, he argued that the GOP response was a “partisan bill with no path forward.”
Even though it’s cleared the House, the Republican-led measure is unlikely to see the light of day in the Senate, where Democrats hold a slim majority. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said that the upper chamber would not hold a vote on the bill.
President Biden, meanwhile, has vowed to veto the legislation if it reaches his desk.
Although Biden has chafed at Israel’s treatment of civilians in Gaza, the White House has so far stopped short of withholding military aid for the war. The administration on Wednesday announced a roughly $1 billion arms package for Israel, which includes tank shells, mortar rounds and vehicles. That comes just weeks after Biden signed a $95 billion foreign aid bill which also includes further security assistance for Israel.
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