The White House warned on Monday that President Biden would veto a standalone bill funding Israel funding if it passes through Congress. House lawmakers plan to vote on the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, which would provide $17.6 billion to Israel, this week.
The announcement comes after House Republicans announced they would reject the $118 billion Senate border deal proposed on Sunday, a deal that includes $60 million in aid for Ukraine and $14 billion in aid for Israel. Republican leaders said that the package “fails in every policy area needed to secure our border and would actually incentivize more illegal immigration.” Further, it’s “riddled with loopholes that grant far too much discretionary authority to Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who has proven he will exploit every measure possible, in defiance of the law, to keep the border open.” On Monday, the White House condemned House Republicans’ prioritization of a standalone bill over Sunday’s proposed omnibus.
“The Administration spent months working with a bipartisan group of Senators to reach a national security agreement that secures the border and provides support for the people of Ukraine and Israel, while also providing much-needed humanitarian assistance to civilians affected by conflicts around the world,” the White House said in a statement. “Instead of working in good faith to address the most pressing national security challenges, this bill is another cynical political maneuver.”
“The security of Israel should be sacred, not a political game,” the statement continued. “The Administration strongly opposes this ploy which does nothing to secure the border, does nothing to help the people of Ukraine defend themselves against Putin’s aggression, fails to support the security of American synagogues, mosques, and vulnerable places of worship, and denies humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, the majority of whom are women and children.”
Under the supplemental-funding package, Johnson said, the border will never close. If the bill reaches the house, it will be “dead on arrival,” he added. Biden’s threat to veto, Johnson added, is “a betrayal of our great ally and friend Israel in their time of desperate need.”
“Israel’s at war, they’re fighting for their very existence, and the idea that Joe Biden would suggest that he would not send a clean funding measure to assist them is just outrageous,” Johnson said on Monday. “I think he’s going to hear quite a bit about that veto threat.”