White House strongly expressed its position on bill regarding aid to Israel without Ukraine
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre (photo: Getty Images)
The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has criticized the intention of the House of Representatives to vote on a bill providing financial assistance to Israel separately from the support program for Ukraine, states White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
The White House spokesperson, Karine Jean-Pierre, has labeled the initiative as a cynical political maneuver by Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives.
"For months the administration has been working with a bipartisan group of Senators on a national security agreement that secures our border and provides support for the people of Ukraine and Israel. Just as legislative text is imminent, the House Republicans come up with their latest cynical political maneuver," her statement read.
The White House representative emphasized that Israel's security should be sacrosanct, not a political game.
Jean-Pierre stressed that the administration strongly opposes this gimmick, which does not contribute to securing the border, fails to assist the people of Ukraine in defending against Russian aggression, and denies humanitarian aid to Palestinians.
"House Republicans should instead work in a bipartisan way, like the administration and Senate are doing, on these pressing national security issues," she concluded.
What preceded this
Earlier on February 3, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, announced that the House would vote next week on a bill providing over $17 billion in aid to Israel. The Senate is expected to unveil this proposal after lengthy negotiations.
According to him, currently, there is no time for the States to consider a package that combines aid to Ukraine and Israel.
In October of last year, U.S. President Joe Biden submitted a $106 billion bill to Congress for aid to Israel and Ukraine, as well as allies in the Asia-Pacific region. Of this amount, $61.3 billion was proposed for Ukraine and $14.3 billion for Israel.
However, in December, the Senate blocked the consideration of this document. The reason was the demands of Republicans to include a tougher set of measures to protect the southern border of the U.S. with Mexico.
Afterwards, Democrats and Republicans began negotiations on a new border agreement. Recently, the Senate and Congress agreed on the text of such an agreement. At the same time, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, called such a project stillborn, thereby suggesting that the Republican majority in the lower house of Congress does not plan to vote for the document.
