It is ironic that the $3 billion or so that the U.S. provides in aid to Israel is perhaps one or two percent of the amount that is lost to fraud each year. It would be nice if the Democrats got 50 to 100 times as exercised about fraud as they do about aid to Israel.
Today the House of Representatives voted on an amendment offered by outgoing Rep. Thomas Massie to cut off aid to Israel. The amendment was defeated easily:
The US House of Representatives defeats an amendment to cut off aid to Israel, despite nearly half of Democrats supporting it, reflecting the growing rupture between the party and Israel.
The House votes 314 to 104 to defeat the measure, offered as an amendment to a State Department spending bill by outgoing Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky.
Besides Massie, the only Republican to back the measure, 103 Democrats vote in favor, a sharp departure from previous years in which bills supporting Israel passed almost unanimously.
It is a sign of the times. Still, there were fewer votes for Massie’s measure than many had predicted. The party’s leadership split on the amendment:
The issue has also divided party leaders. Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the House Democratic leader, said on Tuesday he would oppose Massie’s amendment, saying it was “too broad.”
Nicely hedged.
But on Wednesday,the No. 2 House Democrat, Representative Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, said she would support it. “We should not provide a blank check for military aid to any country that does not comply with US law, interests, and values,” she said in a statement.
My interpretation is that pretty much all the Democrats in Congress would love to cut off aid to Israel, but the time is not yet right. While anti-Semitic elements dominate among Democratic activists, most Americans continue to support the U.S.-Israeli alliance.
