In the immediate aftermath of the hell on earth visited upon Israeli civilians by Iran-backed Hamas terrorists, most Democrats in Washington -- aside from the predictable fanatical Israel haters and bigots -- talked a strong game about Israel's right to self defense. Many of us warned that although such statements of solidarity were nice, the real test would lie in the days and weeks ahead. Once the initial shock of the massacre wore off, and Israel's military was grinding through a brutal war to destroy Hamas, how long would the support truly last? Here we are, less than four weeks past the single largest one-day mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust, and the President of the United States is calling for a temporary "pause" in the IDF's offensive, supposedly for 'humanitarian' reasons. Not only that, he's threatening to veto crucial military aid to Israel if it's not paired with money for Ukraine:
NSC spokesman John Kirby: “The president would veto an only Israel bill." pic.twitter.com/P4b7hvfNbW
— Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) November 2, 2023
I personally support helping both of these allies in their fights for survival against anti-American enemies, but this is not a time to play games. If there's a case to make for both batches of funding (and I believe there is), make each case, and vote on them separately. Don't let Israel twist in the wind while Ukraine-related politics in the US bogs down the debate. It's reckless and unacceptable, but that appears to be the route most Congressional Democrats are headed, too. Only a dozen members of the allegedly pro-Israel House Democratic minority voted to pass the GOP's stand-alone Israel bill, with IRS-related offsets. Democratic leaders in the House and Senate are arguing that they'd rather not send any help to Israel if it means a separate vote on Ukraine funding and less money for the recently-doubled IRS.
Worse, ostensible Israel supporters in the upper chamber are already going wobbly on Israel's war against Hamas. A member of leadership has now publicly embraced a Hamas-boosting "ceasefire," while other prominent liberal Senator is hand-wringing about the civilian casualties that Hamas both directly causes and habitually exaggerates. MSNBC primetime hosts are prattling about 'disproportionality,' even after Israel delayed its incursion by weeks ands done everything imaginable to urge civilians to evacuate the north of Gaza. For some, We Stand With Israel lasted a few weeks, and really just days once the actual fighting started. With "allies" like these...
