Biden administration threatens to veto House GOP’s Israel aid bill

The White House threatened to veto House Republicans’ Israel aid bill, which seeks to provide funding to Israel as a stand-alone issue rather than combine it with aid for other nations, should it come to his desk for signature.

In a statement, the Office of Management and Budget expressed opposition to the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2024, which would provide emergency aid to Israel. While the OMB said that it strongly supports aid to Israel, it argued that the Republican bill inserts partisanship into the debate and would deprive “humanitarian assistance to vulnerable populations around the world,” including Palestinians.

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House Republicans introduced their plan for a stand-alone bill that would give $14.3 billion in aid to Israel on Monday. The plan, which would be paid for in full by offsets in spending, came in contrast to Biden’s $106 billion supplemental request that combined funding for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan, and the southern border in the same bill.

“But rather than putting forward a package that strengthens American national security in a bipartisan way, the bill fails to meet the urgency of the moment by deepening our divides and severely eroding historic bipartisan support for Israel’s security,” the statement read. “It inserts partisanship into support for Israel, making our ally a pawn in our politics, at a moment we must stand together. It denies humanitarian assistance to vulnerable populations around the world, including Palestinian civilians, which is a moral and strategic imperative.”

Abed Khaled/AP

The statement argued that requiring offsets in spending to provide aid would set a “new and dangerous precedent” and would politicize support for U.S. allies.

“This bill is bad for Israel, for the Middle East region, and for our own national security,” the letter said.

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The OMB also argued that the bill neglects the Pacific theater, weakening the U.S. response to China, and neglects Ukraine.

The Biden administration’s response to the war in Israel that sparked after the terrorist organization Hamas launched a series of attacks against Israel on Oct. 7 has angered President Joe Biden’s opponents to the right and left, with progressive Democrats arguing that he is hurting Palestinians and Republicans arguing that he isn’t doing enough to help Israel.