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Senate Democrats Reject Aid to Israel

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  November 07, 2023 7:00 PM

On Tuesday, Senate Democrats objected to the request from Sens. Roger Marshall (R-KS), JD Vance (R-OH), and Rick Scott (R-FL) for unanimous consent to pass a standalone bill funding Israel, after the House passed such a bill last week. Although this bill did not include funding for Ukraine, it did include the funding that President Joe Biden asked for with assisting Israel. The president has threatened to veto standalone bills that fund Israel but not Ukraine.

During his remarks, Marshall called to mind the harrowing details of the October 7 terrorist attack that Hamas perpetrated against Israel, which left 1,400 Israelis dead. It was the bloodiest day in the country's history, with the most Jews killed since the Holocaust. Hamas targeted men, women, children, and the elderly alike for murder, and through unspeakably disturbing means. They also engaged in rape, kidnapping, and torture. Americans were among those captured and killed.

"What if a month had passed and there had been no meaningful action from your ally, the most powerful nation in the world," Marshall asked his colleagues, pointing out how long it's been since the attack. 

As Marshall pointed out, it wouldn't merely be a message to Hamas, but "a real message to Iran and its terrorist proxies that we will stop their hatred and evil from spreading." As The Wall Street Journal reported not long after the attack, Hamas had assistance from Iran. 

"Mr. President, time is of the essence, and it is imperative that the Senate not delay delivering this crucial aid to Israel another day," the senator explained. "A timely military aid package with a unified voice from Congress showing support for Israel will not only add to Israel's stability, it will slow down and hopefully stop the evil plots of Hamas, Iran, and its proxies."

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While it was a standalone bill, it nevertheless still was the same spending levels that the president asked for. "Our bill provides military assistance and resources to Israel at the exact spending levels the Biden Administration has requested. I want to emphasize this: these are the exact spending levels President Biden put forth that he agrees Israel needs in this time of war," Marshall stressed, as he went on to mention his surprise that the president would veto the bill. "With his veto, he would snatch defeat from the jaws of victory," Marshall charged. 

In total, as Marshall explained, the bill "would provide $14.3 billion to Israel, including $3.5 billion for foreign military financing and $200 million in diplomatic funding to help protect U.S. embassies and personnel." It would also "provide funding for the Iron Dome and Iron Beam defense systems. It allows the U.S. to stockpile more weapons in Israel and provides more funding to protect U.S. embassies. Importantly, this bill strips all aid to Gaza, which we know is frequently commandeered by Hamas." 

On that last point, the Biden administration has been heavily criticized for sending aid to Gaza, and for that very reason. An announcement was made just last month, though, and Democrats have been calling for aid to be sent to Gaza for years despite this very risk. 

Marshall also touched upon Israel's right to defend itself, also noting that "helping our ally, who is fighting a war from all angles against Hamas, shouldn't require a prolonged battle here in Congress. This is a no-brainer and should have been done yesterday."

The senator called attention to how his Democratic colleagues would not agree to the bill because it did not include funding for Ukraine. As Marshall reminded, though, some House Democrats did support the standalone bill, as it passed with bipartisan support.

When pointing out why it is that Biden would veto such critical aid, Marshall noted it's "just because it isn't being leveraged for a $105 billion boondoggle package with another blank check to Ukraine." He later went on to remind of the key distinction of how "the legislation we've brought to the Floor today ensures that funding for Israel is not coupled with billions of additional dollars in aid to Ukraine, Taiwan or for mass amnesty at the southern border."

Marshall became particularly passionate in his remarks then, as he called to mind issues with sending over billions to Ukraine. "Many of us have concerns about the Ukraine conflict, and until the White House answers the 12 questions posed by the House, including the need for an Inspector General and a clear-cut peace strategy, many of us will continue to block sending billions more in American tax dollars to what looks like a stalemate that has already tragically cost over 200,000 lives," he shared.

The crisis at the southern border has been a particularly hot topic. Speaking about "the home front," Marshall said "what's even more disheartening for the American people is this White House's embrace of open border policies that has allowed almost 10 million illegal crossings of our border," pointing out this is "making every state a border state and every American less safe."

Marshall went on to share strong words about Biden's foreign aid request, calling it "a poke in the eye to every member of Congress who has been to the border and advocated for border security." The senator railed against how the president was "gaslighting the American people with a small fraction of this money going to Israel aid, and funds to make our border even more porous," pointing to how it is "an asylum assist program on steroids."

As he continued, Marshall also referred to Biden's aid request as "a slap in the face and disrespectful for the families who lost a loved one to the Fentanyl crisis, for the communities who are overwhelmed by our open borders, and for every American who feels less and less safe in their own homes every day."

During remarks, Vance called out how Democrats "would like to use Israel as a political fig leaf for the president's Ukraine policy."

He sought to stress that the foreign conflicts are very different from each other and must be treated as such. "The idea that what happens in Russia and Ukraine is separate from what happens in Israel is not just obvious, it is common sense and it has been borne out by the reality of the last couple of weeks," Vance declared.

The senator also brought up how Biden's foreign policy on Israel and Ukraine "should be debated," adding "we should talk about it, we should discuss it, we should separate the cost and benefits and analyze them as distinct policies because that's what the American people deserve of their legislature."

Democratic senators put on full display their prioritizing Ukraine, as they brought that country up 77 times during their remarks, more than double the amount of times they mentioned Israel. That ammounted to solely discussing Ukraine for 27 minutes of their 42 minutes spent opposing the standalone package up for consideration.

That also fits with Biden's over prioritizing Ukraine, with how he requested four times the amount over what he requested for Israel. 

Marshall later posted his disappointed, noting it was "clear" that "Senate Democrats are using Israel's crisis as a political pawn for another blank check to Ukraine."

Polls continue to show that Republicans are more supportive of Israel than Democrats are. Democrats are also in disarray over supporting Israel, with Squad members such as Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) making anti-semitic remarks and social media posts, while Biden may be losing voters over Israel.