For the second time this month the Biden administration is bypassing Congress to approve an emergency weapons sale to Israel as Israel continues to prosecute its war against Hamas in Gaza under increasing international criticism.
For the second time this month the Biden administration is bypassing Congress to approve an emergency weapons sale to Israel as Israel continues to prosecute its war against Hamas in Gaza under increasing international criticism.
It’s neat how congress goes from an insurmountable obstacle to an insubstantial suggestion.
That only works when Congress intentionally leaves a loophole, in this case allowing weapon sales but not donations.
What sale? We fund Israel. They do not pay us anything and never will. At least Ukraine is promising repayment for the weapons we supply and are backed by the World Bank. Israel, on the other hand, recieves billions from us annually and will continue to be our welfare recipients long after the Gazan genocide is complete.
Also, sale or no sale, we are openly participating in genocide now. We should not be supplying jack shit to Israel under any financial circumstances.
The OP is about Biden selling weapons to Israel, which they had to pay for.
Originally they were supposed to receive billions in emergency funding instead. That funding is stalled in Congress, partly due to Israel’s conduct in this war.
They are “paying” for these weapons with the billions we give them every year. They can call it a “sale” all they want, but it’s still very obviously a gift.
Our annual military aid is in the form of free equipment, not free cash. So if they want more equipment, as in this case, then they have to spend their own money.
I disagree. I believe it is given as liquid currency and Israel is free to spend it as it sees fit. While it is intended to aid their military and is usually spent on U.S. arms, purchasing exclusively from the U.S. is not a requirement of the current agreement.
Here is a BBC article from 2021 that breaks down some of the ways Israel chooses to spend the funds we send them.
Notable from the article:
No, it’s not liquid currency.
Military aid to Israel funds two programs. The smaller part buys parts for their Iron Dome system, as sort of an ongoing field test. The larger part goes through the Foreign Military Financing program.
You can find the details of the FMF here, but basically Israel orders equipment and the US pays for it (up to a certain dollar limit of course). The equipment must be purchased from US contractors (though some exceptions apply):
It’s kind of like health insurance. They don’t send you money, but they pay your bill (or maybe not if it’s out-of-network).
The goal is twofold: support US defense contractors and support American allies. And there is a potential ulterior motive: recipient countries are more likely to buy additional equipment from US contractors.
Excellent data. Thank you.
So neat watching the mountains of excuses evaporate into nothingness when there’s a genocide to fund.
It only seems extraordinary because you just tuned in.
Presidents have recently used loopholes in the past to ban Muslim immigrants, build a Southern wall, require masks in airports, require hospital employees to get covid vaccines, halt evictions, cancel student debt, and now sell weapons to Israel. All without an act of Congress.
But not everything has a loophole. There is an equally long list of things that they thought they could do without Congressional approval, but actually couldn’t. For example require other employees to get covid vaccines, stop oil drilling, forgive farm loans, and cancel even more student debt.
No. It seems like the most mundane shit ever, honestly. When centrist Democrats don’t want to raise the minimum wage, they let the parliamentarian get in their way. When centrist Democrats don’t want to codify Roe or pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, they let the filibuster get in their way.
When centrist Democrats want to fund a genocide, all their mindless devotion to procedure and decorum is nowhere to be found.
If it were that simple, then the $14 billion aid bill to Israel would have already passed.
Instead it’s going nowhere, Israel has to actually pay the US for weapons, and they are getting less than 1% of what everyone expected.
How do you explain that outcome in your black-and-white worldview?
You seem so disappointed.
You interpret emotions as poorly as you interpret politics.