White House bashes GOP plan to shift funds from Gaza aid to Israel Iron Dome: 'Not Hamas'
The White House shot back at Republican efforts to redirect aid from Gaza to the Iron Dome, arguing the GOP lawmakers behind new legislation should back President Biden's new supplemental funding bill for Israel.
"Before becoming the first American commander-in-chief to set foot in Israel during wartime, President Biden’s unflinching backing for Israel in the wake of the worst terrorist atrocities in their history was welcomed across that country as the strongest expression of support from anyone to ever sit in the Oval Office," White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates told Fox News Digital. "He quickly sent military aid to Israel, and he has been clear that the United States will ensure Israel has what it needs to protect itself, - and those Americans living in and traveling to Israel - from terrorism."
The comments come after a group of Republican senators led by Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., introduced legislation Thursday that would require the president to transfer "all unexpected balances of appropriations made available to Gaza to the Department of Defense, to be available for grants to Israel for the Iron Dome short-rage rocket defend system."
"In the wake of Iran-backed Hamas’s savage attack on Israel in which over 1,300 people in Israel were murdered, including 30 Americans, and as Iran-backed Hamas terrorists continue to launch missiles and rockets into Israel, the American people have seen the images of Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense systems repeatedly intercepting rockets and saving the lives of countless civilians," Hagerty told Fox News Digital. "My legislation requires the Biden Administration to halt U.S. foreign assistance from going to Hamas terrorist-dominated areas and instead to redirect these resources to help Israel resupply its life-saving Iron Dome interceptors. The United States should unequivocally support the right of Israel to defend itself from terrorists."
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