US Senate passes massive Ukraine-Israel aid bill

The foreign aid bill is set to go to the House of Representatives, where it is unlikely to pass

February 13, 2024 by Peoples Dispatch

On February 13, the US Senate finally passed a long-delayed USD 95 billion bill, which will provide aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. The legislation will now head to the House of Representatives, which is unlikely to pass the bill, as the House has not passed any new Ukraine aid since Republicans took control of the chamber in January 2023. 

The bill would provide USD 60 billion to Ukraine, the majority of which is military aid. USD 14.1 billion will go to Israel as it continues a genocidal war in the Gaza Strip. USD 4.83 billion would go to the Indo-Pacific region, including USD 1.9 billion towards weapons to Taiwan. 

In the Senate, the bill was supported by moderates in both major political parties, and largely opposed by ultra-conservative Republicans who oppose funding to Ukraine. The bill passed with 70 votes in favor and 29 opposed. The only left-of-center Senators who voted against the bill were Senators Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch of Vermont, and Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon. 

The day the bill passed, Sanders came out against the United States’ rampant military spending. “We have unlimited money for bombs and tanks,” he wrote on X. “But we can’t find the money to provide health care to all people?”

The passing of the bill was praised by Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, who wrote, “With this national security bill, the Senate keeps its word to Ukrainians in need of supplies, to innocent Palestinian civilians in need of relief, to Israelis in need of support, and to US service members on patrol in the Indo-Pacific, the Red Sea, and around the world.”

It appears that the Biden administration itself has no conditions on sending Israel more military aid. Biden supposedly warned Netanyahu against assaulting Rafah without taking civilians into account (which Netanyahu did anyway). When Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council John Kirby was asked if not taking civilians into account would be enough reason to strip aid to Israel, his answer was clear: “We’re going to continue to support Israel.”