US House speaker pushes for new bill to force Israeli arm shipments

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - US House Speaker Mike Johnson urged the Senate majority leader on Thursday to bring the Israel Security Assistance Support Act to the Senate floor for a vote.

"We're calling on Chuck Schumer to put this bill on the floor and we send it over there and let the Senate vote this bill," Johnson said at a news conference.

The House of Representatives is due to vote on the Republican-led bill which came after President Joe Biden told CNN last week that he paused arms shipments to Israel amid concerns about its offensive on Gaza's southern city of Rafah, where 1.5 million displaced Palestinians have sheltered from Israel’s onslaught on the enclave.

The bill specifies that no federal funds may be used to withhold, halt, reverse or cancel the delivery of defense articles or defense services to Israel. Also, no funds may be used to pay the salary of any Pentagon or State Department employee who acts to limit defense deliveries to Israel.

"If Schumer refuses to bring this up for a vote, he'll be telling the world that his party, the Democrats, are no longer willing to stand with our great ally," said Johnson, adding that the House has broad bipartisan support.

"But this should not be a partisan issue. It is shameful that it has become that. We have to stand with our closest ally Israel. They are the only stable democracy in the Middle East. They are one of our closest friends, if not the most important ally that we have for strategic reasons and for all the other reasons that all of us stand with Israel," he added.

Johnson also criticized Biden for not standing with Israel despite the US having "ironclad support" for Tel Aviv, and he demanded the elimination of the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.

"Now, it's clear that Biden and Schumer have turned their back on Israel," he added.

Biden last month signed a $95 billion foreign aid package which includes $26 billion for Israel.

His administration notified Congress on Tuesday about a new more than $1 billion arms package -- including $700 million for tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles and $60 million in mortar rounds -- it plans to deliver to Israel, according to the media reports.