Washington As the war in Gaza escalates, US lawmakers are pressing the Obama administration to take no action that puts pressure on Israel to halt its military campaign against Hamas.
Many even have criticized the administration’s effort to stop the violence. “At times like this, people try to isolate Israel,” House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Monday. “We are here to stand with Israel, not just as a broker or observer but as a strong partner and a trusted ally.
“What does that mean? Well, it doesn’t mean issuing vague, on-the-one-hand, on-the-other-hand statements. No, it means backing up our words and showing solidarity with our friend.”
This week, Congress will discuss a $225 million request from the Defense Department to urgently bolster Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system.
Republicans and Democrats are clashing over whether to approve the funds in a larger spending bill or separately, though no one publicly opposes the payments. Senate appropriators already have approved doubling next year’s money for the system.
Whereas the Obama administration and lawmakers agree on Iron Dome, other actions in Congress are more contentious.
Until Monday, Sen. Ted Cruz was hindering the appointment of several US ambassadors to key allies by vowing to block all State Department nominees awaiting confirmation.
The Texas Republican said he was releasing his holds after the Federal Aviation Administration answered his questions about its 36-hour ban last week on US airline flights to Israel. Cruz had claimed the prohibition was an “economic boycott” of Israel to pressure it into a cease-fire with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
In a weekend call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Barack Obama stressed the need for an “immediate, unconditional, humanitarian cease-fire.” Obama, a White House statement said, suggested larger questions would then come later.
Such talk has alarmed lawmakers of both parties.
In a letter last week to Obama, Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said a cease-fire must eliminate Hamas’ ability to fire rockets and place no restrictions on the Jewish state.
“Israel must be allowed to take any actions necessary to remove those threats,” the senators wrote - a position that presaged by two days the Israeli government’s unanimous rejection of Secretary of State John Kerry’s cease-fire proposal.
Over days of intense diplomacy, Kerry has tried to secure commitments from both sides that would lead to peace. Congress, by contrast, has focused its energies on Palestinian actions and critics of Israel.
Cardin and Graham joined three Republican senators - Marco Rubio of Florida, Mark Kirk of Illinois and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire - in sending a sharply worded letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon after he described Israel’s military operations as an “atrocious action.”
House Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., and Ted Deutch, D-Fla., have a resolution condemning Hamas’ use of human shields. Cruz and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., followed Monday in the Senate.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., formerly the bane of the Israel lobby for suggesting a US aid cutoff, has said no one should question Israel’s actions in a time of war.
