The US Senate last night blocked a bill led by President Biden that included economic aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan as well as funds for protecting US borders. The bill was defeated by 51 votes to 49 with all the Republican backing opposition to the legislation because it contained insufficient measures that they are demanding in order to support the bill to curb immigration to the US.
The defense aid package for US allies blocked in Congress amounts to $111 billion, of which $10 billion is allocated to Israel. If the negotiations over the legislation do not produce results in the coming days, the bill could be delayed until after the Christmas holidays.
Senator James Lankford, the lead Republican negotiator, has promised that he will continue to try to find a way to solve the borders issue even though many leading Senators have indicated that there is a chance that their won't be sufficient time to reach a deal before the end of the year.
Some senators are proposing working through the holiday to reach a compromise, because of the importance of the issue. However, even if the bill passes the Senate, it will still need to be approved in the Republican-majority US House of Representatives, where dozens of Republicans voted against aid to Ukraine.
Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders criticized the planned aid to Israel and told the Senate, "I do not think we should be appropriating $10.1 billion for the right-wing, extremist Netanyahu government to continue its current military approach. What the Netanyahu government is doing is immoral, it is in violation of international law, and the US should not be complicit in those actions," Sanders argued on the Senate floor.
Before the vote on the bill, President Biden addressed Congress and warned that inaction would only help Russian President Putin in his war against Ukraine: "Who is willing to give up on Putin taking responsibility for his behavior? Who among us is really ready for that? I'm not willing to give up on that and I don't think the American people are ready for that either. We can't let Putin win."
Biden said he was willing to make "significant compromises on the border issue," but accused Republicans of taking an all-or-nothing approach: "It has to be a negotiation. The Republicans think they can get whatever they want without any compromise. That's not the answer."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 7, 2023.
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