Senate Democrats are discussing possible conditions that could be imposed on U.S. aid for Israel, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters on Wednesday.
Read more:
The Biden administration had bypassed Congress twice to supply Israel with emergency aid after Republicans in the house refused his budget requests unless he accepted their demands on southern border policies. The president is also opposed by far-left members of his own party who disagree with the staunch support of Israel in its war against Hamas.
Schumer does not support conditioning aid to Israel and earlier in the day, had met with a delegation of family members of hostages abducted from a military base to Gaza on October 7.
Although the initiative to add conditions to the aid is not likely to pass, it can still have serious ramifications because the U.S. does not impose such restrictions on trustworthy allies.
Some, mostly from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party have suggested the U.S. provide aid only after Israel takes concrete steps to reduce civilian casualties in Gaza, but the support for Israel in the party remains high.
On the Republican side, the aid to Israel, as well as to Ukraine, has fallen victim to the fight over the U.S. southern border crisis, and even long-times friends of Israel have said that they would only vote for funding for Israel if the president agrees to their demands to reverse policies there that they say have allowed unprecedented numbers of people, some of whom may pose a security threat to the U.S. especially amid the war in Gaza.