Sanders Demands $1bn in Gaza Aid in Exchange for ‘Yes’ Vote on Iron Dome Funding

US Senator Bernie Sanders. (Photo: Video Grab)

US Senator Bernie Sanders said that he would back additional funding for Israel’s Iron Dome but that he also demanded the same $1 billion aid commitment for Gaza, as a necessary counterweight to the US’ overwhelming military support for Israel, according to Israeli media.

Giving Israel an extra $1 billion in emergency funding would be “unconscionable” and “irresponsible”, Sanders wrote in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, prior to a vote over the $1 billion emergency funding bill for Israel’s Iron Dome, ‘Jewish Currents’ revealed.

“If the goal of this supplemental funding is to help Israel replenish Iron Dome after the war that took place in May, it would be irresponsible if we do not at the same time address the enormous destruction and suffering that that war caused the Palestinians in Gaza,” Sanders wrote in the letter. “Just as we stand with the Israeli people’s right to live in peace and security, we must do so for the Palestinian people as well.”

In the letter, Sanders stressed that he $1 billion in funding is on top of the $3.8 billion that Israel already receives annually from the US as part of the security aid package signed during the administration of former US President Barack Obama.

The emergency funding bill passed overwhelmingly in the House of Representatives last month but not without controversy. Several Democratic members succeeded in having it removed from a stopgap spending bill and moved to the annual defense bill.

(The Palestine Chronicle, MEMO, Social Media)

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4 Comments

  1. Bernie remains the only salvation of the Democratic Party, outside of those beautiful women of color: Rashida, Ilhan, AOC (qualified), Ayanna and Corey.
    Time for a few more men to step up to the plate.

  2. How about no money to either group? Not one penny of US tax money should be sent overseas for any reason. Taking care of Palestine or Israel is not the responsibility of the American tax payer.

  3. The American people have gotten tired of the demands, bullying, and blackmail the American government has received from the fully nuclear armed, viciously apartheid, theocracy which is what Israel has become in the 21st century.

    And we have one word for you: enough!!

    We will provide you no more American military to get slaughtered or maimed for life in the process of “neutralizing” all your alleged existential threats in the Middle East. And of course, as we both know, that includes all of your neighbors in the region.

    And on top of that, sir, we would appreciate it greatly if the US government immediately pull all financial and military aid from your country immediat

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