U.S. Congress Rejects Amendment to Halt Aid to Israel

SadaNews: The U.S. House of Representatives has rejected an amendment to stop aid to Israel, despite support from nearly half of the Democrats.

The House voted by a majority of 314 votes to 104 against this measure, which was proposed by Republican Representative Thomas Massie from Kentucky as an amendment to the foreign appropriations bill.

However, the measure was supported by 103 Democrats and one Republican member, marking a shift from years when bills supporting Israel were passed almost unanimously.

Leftist Democrats are pushing to end U.S. aid to Israel in their campaigns for the congressional primary elections, while moderate Democrats are advocating for sending funds that would be used solely for defensive weapons.

Massie is a strong opponent of all forms of foreign aid, but he stated that he was also responding to the heavy civilian casualties resulting from Israeli attacks in Gaza.

During a House debate, Massie said, "70,000 have fallen in Gaza, and I don't think we should be a part of that."

The amendment proposed by Massie would have prevented the use of any funding in the appropriations bill for Israel, and stopped the annual $3.3 billion in security assistance that Washington sends to Israel.

It is noteworthy that even if the House had approved the amendment, the vote would have been largely symbolic since, to become law, it would have had to be ratified by the Senate and overcome the nearly certain veto by President Donald Trump.