Today at 18:47
The US President does not intend to give his approval to a standalone aid package for Israel developed by the Republicans of the House of Representatives and designed to leave Ukraine aside.
This was stated by the Office of Management and Budget statement.
“The Administration strongly encourages both chambers of the Congress to reject this political ploy and instead quickly send the bipartisan Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act to the President’s desk,” the Office of Management and Budget statement said.
“If the President were presented with H.R. 7217, he would veto it,” concluded the Office.
The administration emphasized that months of work had been put into a bipartisan deal to protect both civilians of Israel and Ukraine alongside protecting the US border and that “the security of Israel should be sacred, not a political game”.
Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, opposed Biden’s decision harshly.
“The President’s veto threat is an act of betrayal. Israel is at war, fighting for its very right to exist, while our brave men and women in uniform are in harm’s way on his orders to deter Iran. In threatening to veto aid to Israel and to our military forces, President Biden is abandoning our ally in its time of greatest need. I urge friends of Israel and opponents of Iran to call the President’s bluff and pass this clean aid package.”
Johnson, accused of playing along with Trump and his desire to kill the Senate deal, presented a standalone package to support Israel only with $17.6 billion in aid on February 3, a day before the Senate unveiled its bipartisan deal that includes both immigration restrictions and aid to Ukraine and Israel.
He then proclaime the Senate deal “dead on arrival”, and some Republicans also backed down from their plans to vote for the deal. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who had supported the Sunday compromise, said GOP discussions would continue Tuesday.
Read also: Senate presents US$118 billion bipartisan bill on border security and aid to Ukraine and Israel
