US House defeats amendment to end Israel aid, but nearly half of Democrats vote in favor

US House defeats amendment to end Israel aid, but nearly 50% of Democrats back measure

The US House of Representatives defeats an amendment to cut off aid to Israel, despite nearly half of Democrats supporting it, reflecting the growing rupture between the party and Israel.

The House votes 314 to 104 to defeat the measure, offered as an amendment to a State Department spending bill by outgoing Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky.

Besides Massie, the only Republican to back the measure, 103 Democrats vote in favor, a sharp departure from previous years in which bills supporting Israel passed almost unanimously. Democrats on the party’s left flank have been strongly pushing to end US military aid to Israel entirely amid the midterm election primary campaigns, while its establishment wing wants to limit the assistance to solely defensive weaponry.

While 48 percent of Democrats backed Massie’s amendment, the figure was well below reported predictions that as high as 150 Democrats could vote for it.

The number was expected to be higher because the measure was certain to fail, allowing Democrats to vote against Israel without any practical policy consequences.

Enough Democrats still felt uncomfortable enough with the scope of Massie’s amendment that they decided to vote against it, even though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is overwhelmingly unpopular in the party.

Massie is a fiscal hawk who opposes all foreign aid, but he said he was also responding to the toll on civilians of Israel’s attacks on Hamas in Gaza. “There have been 70,000 casualties in Gaza, and I don’t think we should be part of that,” he said during House debate, without differentiating between civilians and combatants.

His amendment would have barred any funding in the appropriations bill from being used for Israel, and blocked $3.3 billion in annual security assistance Washington sends Israel.

The vote would have been largely symbolic even if the House had backed the amendment. To become law, it would have had to pass the Senate and override an almost certain veto by President Donald Trump, who has made support for Israel a central plank in his foreign policy.

The issue has also divided party leaders. Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the House Democratic leader, said on Tuesday he would oppose Massie’s amendment, saying it was “too broad.”

But on Wednesday,the  No. 2 House Democrat, Representative Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, said she would support it. “We should not provide a blank check for military aid to any country that does not comply with US law, interests, and values,” she said in a statement.