US House Speaker: Israel’s interests are more “urgent” than Ukraine’s

Legislators will vote this week on aiding West Jerusalem, postponing a request for Kiev, according to Republican Mike Johnson.

As US lawmakers vote this week on the more “pressing” priority of supporting Israel in its fight with Hamas, President Joe Biden’s most recent request for finance aid to Ukraine will be shelved, according to newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Johnson stated on Sunday in an interview with Fox News that “we’re going to move a stand-alone Israel funding bill this week in the House.” “I am aware that our Senate colleagues, who are Republicans, have a similar measure.” He did not say when the House would consider the most recent tranche of funds for Ukraine that is being requested.

Rather than letting Congress vote on the issues independently, Biden has advocated for combining aid to both Israel and Ukraine into a $106 billion emergency financing plan. Earlier this month, his administration revealed a plan to allocate an additional $61.4 billion to finance the battle between Russia and Ukraine, $14.3 billion to Israel, and $9.2 billion for humanitarian help in both nations.

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In four rounds of legislation, Congress has previously approved $113 billion in aid for Ukraine; but, Republican resistance to more money for Kiev has grown. The majority of House Republicans now oppose increasing aid to Ukraine, and disagreements over the matter among Republicans played a part in Johnson’s predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, being removed from office earlier this month.

Johnson anticipated that both the House and the Senate would strongly approve the stand-alone Israel bill, regardless of party affiliation. He declared, “My goal is not to use this for any partisan political gamesmanship.” “This is a very important issue.”

In a Fox interview that aired on Thursday, the incoming speaker—who has been sceptical of aid to Kiev—argued that the Biden administration hasn’t offered a clear plan for how it intends to end the crisis or for what it hopes to accomplish with significant aid to Ukraine. However, he has no such qualms with supporting Israel.

“We think that’s a critical and urgent need,” Johnson stated in the interview on Sunday. “While there are many issues facing the world that we must and will address, the situation in Israel requires our immediate attention at this time, so I believe we must set it aside and see it through.”

Speaking at the Republican Jewish Coalition summit in Las Vegas on Saturday, Johnson claimed to have heard “firsthand reports” of the atrocities committed by Hamas against Israelis. “We cannot allow the brutality and the just unspeakable evil that is happening against Israel right now to continue. This is a priority for our country,” he declared. “We’re going to join our friends in standing.”