The Democratic Party on Tuesday removed $1 billion in military aid to Israel for the Iron Dome from a broader government funding bill after progressive members of the party threatened to block the bill unless it was withdrawn.
Since the bill was largely intended to provide funding to avoid a government shutdown, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi caved in to the progressive pressure despite the fact that the Iron Dome saves thousands of Israeli lives, Jews and Arabs alike.
US President Joe Biden has committed several times to provide Israel with the funding for the Iron Dome, including during Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s recent visit to Washington.
BREAKING → Democrats just pulled funding from the Iron Dome—the missile defense system that has saved countless lives in Israel from Hamas' rocket attacks.
While Dems capitulate to the antisemitic influence of their radical members, Republicans will always stand with Israel.
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) September 21, 2021
However, Israel is still likely to receive the funding, as House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer stated later on Tuesday that “the House will consider legislation this week to fully fund Iron Dome. We will act to ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself, and I expect strong bipartisan support for this effort.”
Following pressure from pro-Israel Democrats, Hoyer announced on the House floor on Tuesday evening that the funding for the Iron Dome would be brought for a standalone vote later this week.
A missile defense system (i.e. Iron Dome) defends civilians from missiles. Hence the name. Only in a morally inverted universe would this be considered a “controversy.” https://t.co/z8moIdqWg1
— Rep. Ritchie Torres (@RepRitchie) September 21, 2021
“It is my intention to bring to this floor a suspension bill before the end of this week that will fund fully Iron Dome,” Hoyer stated. “I was for that. I’m still for it, we ought to do it. I talked to the foreign minister, Mr. Lapid, just two hours ago and assured him that bill was going to pass this House. I intend to bring it to the floor and it will be done.”
Thank you for your friendship and your unwavering support for Israel’s security. https://t.co/9uR4LBHCji
— יאיר לפיד – Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) September 22, 2021
Nevertheless, the move highlights the increasing influence of anti-Israeli progressive members of Congress. In an almost absurd statement, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid blamed former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu for the fiasco while reassuring Israelis that the delay in the aid approval is merely “technical.”
Lapid stated that “after years in which the previous government neglected the Congress and the Democratic Party and caused considerable damage to Israel-U.S. relations, we are today rebuilding a relationship of trust with the Congress.”
The incident was a highly embarrassing one for the Bennett government, particularly Lapid, who repeatedly asserted that he will rebuild ties with the Democratic party in the wake of the previous government’s “reckless” focus on the Republican party.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) responded to the incident by stating: “Extremists in Congress are playing politics with Israeli and Palestinian lives. Calling to remove funding for a lifesaving defensive system is an affront to our values, risks further conflict, and is counter to the commitment made by Biden and supported by Congressional leadership.”
“The defensive system intercepted over 90% of Hamas rockets fired at Israeli cities this past May. Countless Israeli and Palestinian civilians would have been killed without Iron Dome.”
“Each rocket could have killed Jews or Arabs. The terrorists in Gaza firing the rockets don’t discriminate. It’s simple: Iron Dome saves lives. Blocking funding for Iron Dome helps terrorists kill civilians.”
Apart from the fact that the Iron Dome saves Israeli lives, it also protects the Gaza Strip from devastation since Israel could not afford to tread lightly if rockets launched from the Strip would result in heavy civilian casualties. If Israel couldn’t operate the Iron Dome, it would have no choice but to take forceful action against terror groups in the Strip, and since the groups embed themselves in the civilian population, it would result in numerous civilian deaths and extensive destruction of property.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
10 Responses
Grace Meng of Queens voted in favor of the H.R. 5305 which excluded for the first time in years funding for the Iron Dome missile defense system. She will say that this is only a continuing funding resolution until December 3, 2021. However, it is the first step in the cave-in to the leftist anti-Israel wing of the House of Representatives. Representative Meng is going to ask for your vote in less that one year. (Election day is November 8, 2022 – primaries may be earlier.)
If you live in Queens, vote to oust AOC in 2020!
If your representative voted YEA on H.R. 5305 the s/he voted in favor of excluding funding for the Iron Dome missile defense system. Visit the Clerk of the House of Representatives to see how your representative voted at clerk.house.gov/Votes/2021267 (clerk dot house dot gov slash Votes slash 2021267).
And not a word from AOC and the girls regarding the US slaughter of innocent civilians in Afghanistan. Nancy is okay with the US government killing innocent civilians in a foreign country. If the commander in chief is a democrat, everything is okay. No investigation necessary. That would be racist.
The stand-alone funding bill giving EY $1 billion to replenish the Iron Dome assets was introduced in the Appropriations Committee this afternoon and will be approved in a floor vote tomorrow evening or Friday AM. While the outcome is the same, and the money will be provided on the original time frame, Pelosi should never have caved to the left-wing of her caucus since this only empowers them to threaten similar anti-Israel actions in the future.
In the 21st century, the Democratic Party has clearly established a policy of deliberate indifference to Islamic terrorists murdering people. if the Democrats don’t mind turning over goyim to be butchered, Kal ve-Homer they won’t object to killing Jews. If its okay to kill Jews elsewhere, why not in Brooklyn?
Unless the American people “throw the rascals” out over the few years, the future for Jews looks bad.
Compounding this, one needs to ask if a Democratic-led United States will oppose tyranny anywhere, or will retreat into the isolationism that took place a century ago, and opened the door to the rise of dictatorships and the holocaust.
Why should one country give funds to another country’s military? It’s not antisemitic to object to that.
America no longer is Israel’s friend, were they ever, the quiet of this page is more a demonstration___
America no longer is Israel’s friend, were they ever, the quiet of this page is more a demonstration___neither is our present government
Good. Thank you Dems! We don’t need any koiche v’oitzem yudi Iron Dome nonsense. We have yeshivelite shteiging bToirah to protect us!