Congressional reaction to the State Department’s report Friday on security assistance to Israel underlined the gap between Democrats and Republicans over whether the U.S. should use weapons transfers to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government as leverage to curb the killings of Palestinian civilians.
House Republicans are planning a floor vote this week on draft legislation that would seek to force the administration into continuing weapons transfers to Israel. A vote, expected Wednesday or Thursday, would offer another opportunity to assess the depth of support for Israel’s polices toward the Palestinians, particularly among Democrats, some of whom have objected to a pause in a weapons transfer.
The bill isn’t expected to move forward in the Senate for political and policy reasons.
