The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R.6126, the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024, on Thursday by a margin of 226-196. The bill, which goes to the U.S. Senate next, calls for $14.3 billion in military aid for Israel in the next fiscal year, decoupling Israeli and Ukrainian aid, for which the White House is calling.
“Now more than ever, we must stand firm with our great ally and do all we can to ensure Israel has what it needs to defend itself,” wrote Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), who introduced the bill.
Two Republicans, Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and Thomas Massie (Ky.), voted against, and 12 Democrats voted for the bill. The latter included Reps. Josh Gottheimer (N.J.), Jared Moskowitz (Fla.) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.).
Wasserman Schultz wrote on social media that she urged colleagues to vote against the bill, which she said contains “poison” and sets a “horrendous” precedent. “For me, as a Jew, as a Zionist and as the representative of a large Jewish community, I personally needed to cast my vote to stand by Israel, the homeland of the Jewish people, in this moment of crisis,” she wrote.
“Tonight, a bipartisan group of members voted to send immediate aid to Israel, our greatest ally in the Middle East,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) stated after the vote.
“This is necessary and critical assistance as Israel fights for its right to exist,” he added. “With antisemitism on the rise both domestically and abroad, it’s imperative that the U.S. sends a message to the world that threats made against Israel and the Jewish people will be met with strong opposition.”
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) called the bill “dead on arrival” in the Senate and said Johnson “played craven partisan politics with our national security, Israel, Ukraine and the lives of innocent Israelis and Palestinians.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called the bill a “joke.”
“The president would veto an only-Israel bill,” John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council of the White House, told reporters on Thursday “I think that we’ve made that clear.”
