The White House warned that President Joe Biden would veto a standalone funding package for Israel brought forward by House Republicans.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) nitpicked the House GOP’s Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2024. The OMB stressed that the proposal “inserts partisanship into support for Israel” and added that it denies “humanitarian assistance” to the people of Gaza and Ukraine, and “fails to provide the resources” the United States needs to keep peace in the Indo-Pacific.
The $14.3 billion standalone bill introduced by Sens. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas.), JD Vance (R-Ohio.), and Mike Lee (R-Utah.) would provide aid to Israel, and not to Ukraine or the people of Gaza.
“This bill is bad for Israel, for the Middle East region, and for our own national security,” the OMB wrote in its statement.
The White House warns that Biden would veto House Republicans' Israel aid bill that would be paid for with cuts to the IRS https://t.co/6SqVhnTUE1
— Bloomberg (@business) November 1, 2023
If passed, the bill would provide Israel with $14.3 billion, along with $3.5 billion for foreign military financing, $150 million to help protect U.S. embassies, $50 million to protect embassy personnel and help evacuate them, and $10.6 billion in funding assistance provided through the Department of Defense (DoD), according to the text of the bill.
“Bifurcating Israel security assistance from the other priorities in the national security supplemental will have global consequences,” the OMB added. “Humanitarian aid is critically needed to alleviate the suffering of civilians in Gaza, but it is also crucial support for innocent Ukrainians facing the brutality of Putin’s war.”
This comes after Biden proposed $106 billion in funding for both Israel and Ukraine. Out of Biden’s $106 billion aid proposal, Ukraine would receive $61.4 billion for military and economic assistance, Israel would receive $14.3 billion, $9.15 billion in humanitarian aid for Israel, Ukraine, and Gaza, along with $7.4 billion to go towards helping various countries counter threats from China.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has expressed his support for bifurcating funding for Israel and Ukraine, adding that he supports helping Ukraine in the ongoing war against Russia, but that the House needed to focus on limiting government spending.
“If the President were presented with this bill, he would veto it,” the OMB added in its statement.