As fighting escalates between Israel and Hamas, President Joe Biden has found a strange bedfellow to back his plea for Congress to adopt a funding package– Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the minority leader.
Biden asked Congress for an additional $106 billion last week so that the United States can bolster its border security, continue to defend its allies in Israel and Ukraine and expand its military presence in the Indo-Pacific.
The terrorist organization Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, attacked Israel without warning earlier this month. More than 5,000 people in Gaza and more than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed in the ongoing conflict between Israel and the organization.
According to the White House, the measures included in Biden’s request grant Israel humanitarian aid, security aid, and aid in the freeing of hostages. The request also provides funds to help Ukraine defend itself from Russian aggression.
On Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell argued that, despite complaints from within his party, U.S. funding to Israel and Ukraine should be combined into a single bill.
The Kentucky Republican noted that while he and President Biden disagree on many domestic issues, they are “usually in the same place” on foreign policy.
McConnell stated on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that the Chinese and Russians have declared their friendship permanent. Drones manufactured in Iran have been used in attacks on Israel and the Ukraine.
Biden has requested $100 billion in humanitarian and military help sent to Israel and Ukraine.
McConnell maintains that everything is “tied together.”
McConnell said his Republican colleagues are making a “mistake” by seeing Israel’s predicament as unique from the crisis in Ukraine, where many conservatives have vowed not to vote for more funding. He maintained that at least some foreign aid should be spent at home.
Included in this is money to secure the U.S.-Mexico border against illegal immigration and to defend Taiwan from Chinese aggression.
