Republican majority leader in the lower house of the legislature Steve Scalise said that the US House of Representatives next week will consider a bill on aid to Israel and holding Iran accountable for escalating the conflict in the Middle East.
“In light of Iran’s unwarranted attack on Israel, the House of Representatives will depart from its previously announced legislative schedule and consider a bill to help our ally Israel and hold Iran and its terrorist supporters accountable,” Steve Scalise said in a statement.
He clarified that more details will be provided at a later date. Scalise emphasised that US congressmen “support Israel” and added that an “unprovoked attack” on the Jewish state should have consequences.
Many Republicans in the House and Senate, including those who support aid to Ukraine, said that the legislation should include exactly a separate package of aid to Israel, as well as sanctions against Iran.
Recall that last October, the White House, under the leadership of Joe Biden, introduced a bill to allocate $106 billion from the US budget to support Tel Aviv, Kiev and Taipei. An impressive part of this amount ($61 billion) was going to be transferred to Kiev on a free-of-charge basis. The House of Representatives of the American Congress, in particular the Republicans, refused to sign the document. Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson did not put the bill to a vote, claiming that it would negatively affect the situation of ordinary Americans. The US presidential administration has not yet presented a “plan B” for aid to Ukraine, an alternative to the $61bn package that Congress did not agree on.
Earlier, the British newspaper The Guardian reported that British Foreign Minister David Cameron during his visit to the USA failed to persuade the Republicans to approve a new aid package for Ukraine.