House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) announced Tuesday that he will oppose an amendment aiming to cut off aid to Israel.
In a letter to his colleagues, Jeffries wrote that the amendment, introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), is “overly broad” and could limit “humanitarian aid, refugee resettlement, peace-building and U.S. embassy operations.” The Democratic leader’s decision comes as support for Israel has become a splintering issue in the Democratic Party, particularly on the left flank.
The legislation will be voted on as an amendment to the National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, an annual foreign affairs spending bill, and would cancel the $3.3 billion in foreign military aid Israel receives.
“In my view, there are more decisive ways to achieve the urgent change necessary when it comes to the far-right Netanyahu government,” Jeffries wrote in a letter to his party, Punchbowl News reported.
Before Jeffries’s letter, Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairman Greg Casar (D-TX) announced his support for the measure and could bring much of his nearly 100-member caucus with him.
Democrats have fleshed out this decision in many conference meetings since the amendment came up, as Democratic leadership held out on making a formal decision.
Ending direct military aid has picked up steam in Washington after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he wants his country to reduce its “dependence” on the United States.
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“Israel has an advanced economy and is capable of paying for its own sophisticated weapons, as the Prime Minister acknowledged,” Jeffries added in the letter.
The Massie amendment does not touch an additional $500 million Israel gets each year in defensive weaponry, including its Iron Dome missile systems. Repealing that funding only attracted four Democrats and two Republicans, one of them Massie, when put to a vote last year.