Update May 13, 2015 – The Bill mentioned below was passed by the Senate and House and signed into law by President Obama on December 14th, 2014. Also passed bi-partisan and virtually unanimous was the US-Israel Strategic Partnership Act, naming Israel as a strategic partner of the United States. It included allowances for a Visa waiver program, forward leaning weapons, enhanced partnership in national security and missile defense and many other items. It was signed in to law by President Obama also in December 2014.
“Congress Stands with Israel” 12/12/14 Robin Rowan
Despite all the bad news you are hearing about Congress and the budget fight this week, for those of us who are standing with Israel, we have a lot of good news from Washington!
The spending bill, Omnibus Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2015, passed by the House, is soon to be passed by the Senate and signed into law. It will prevent a government shutdown but many are up in arms about items in it they don’t like.
Let us look at the good news. There are many in Washington that despite all the other arguing going on, they have the bigger picture, and Israel’s security on their mind. The Bill has many things in it to celebrate on behalf of our support of Israel.
Here are the highlights for the US Support for Israel. The Bill includes –
- Increase of over 20% in proposed funding for Israel’s missile defense programs. The 2015 spending bill includes a total of $619.8 million for US-Israel missile defense programs, with $351 million designated for Iron Dome and the remaining $268.8 million designated for cooperative programs, including David’s Sling, Arrow-2 improvements, and Arrow-3. Majority of this funding this is spent in the US as we build and help develop these defense programs.
- Increases Congressional oversight over deals with Iran. The Bill requires monthly reports from the White House to Congress on Iran’s compliance with oversight of it’s nuclear program, per the terms of the P5+1 temporary agreement. The bill says it is US policy to seek to prevent Iran from achieving nuclear weapons capability.
- Enforces sanctions on Iran. Bill includes a 10% increase in funding for the enforcement of sanctions against Iran, and requires reporting to Congress on sanctions enforcement. Continues enforcement and implementation of the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 and efforts to curtail Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons technology.
Also this week, the House and Senate passed resolutions condemning Hamas and other terrorist organizations for using human shields.
On Dec. 9, the U.S. Senate passed a concurrent resolution (H.Con.Res.107) that denounces the use of human shields by Hamas and other terrorist organizations. The following night, the House passed the Senate version by a voice vote.
“The legislation calls on the international community to acknowledge and condemn Hamas’ flagrant violations of international law by sacrificing civilian lives. The bipartisan bill holds Hamas and other terrorist groups, such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad, accountable for the barrage of rocket attacks in Israel this summer.”
The bill also condemns the U.N. Human Rights Council’s investigation into Israel’s Gaza operations.
Highlighting the strong U.S.-Israel relationship, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tx) stated, “The Senate has sent a united signal that we denounce Hamas’ barbaric tactics and unequivocally support Israel’s right to self-defense. Even though Republicans and Democrats may be divided on many issues, there should be no daylight between us when it comes to standing up to radical Islamic terrorists including Hamas. I hope the international community will join America in condemning their deplorable use of human shields, which is a war crime. I thank my colleagues for their affirmation of our unshakable bond with the nation of Israel.”
No bill is perfect, there will be disagreements from both sides on what should or should not be in a spending bill. But when it comes to the US support of Israel, we have great leaders that are putting a priority on standing with our greatest friend and ally, Israel.
Robin Rowan 12/12/2014
References:
Times of Israel (http://www.timesofisrael.com/must-pass-bill-gives-congress-unprecedented-iran-oversight/?elq=d2e0184118b24be8aada267e3bae6947&elqCampaignId=3747)
AIPAC News Hub (http://www.aipac.org/news-hub?id=%7B8FF7D2E7-F217-4A57-825D-11F4D0807E55%7D&elq=d2e0184118b24be8aada267e3bae6947&elqCampaignId=3747#)
Robin can be contacted at Church4Israel @ gmail.com.
