WASHINGTON — Progressive Democrats are pushing President Joe Biden to break with decades of US military aid policy toward Israel as the war in Gaza continues and Congress is poised to vote on additional military aid to Israel.
On Sunday, the United States Senate unveiled the Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2024 to provide additional military funding for Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel, and to pair the additional funding with stricter immigration policies on the southern border.
Progressives in the Senate are pushing two amendments to the bill that break with decades of American military aid policy toward Israel and attempt to hold Israel more accountable for the way it uses American weapons and financing.
One amendment, proposed by Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, would require weapons purchased under the supplemental bill by a country to be used in accordance with US law, international humanitarian law and the law of armed conflict.