Israel Matzav

Lowey slams segregation of aid to Israel

In an earlier post, I discussed Eric Cantor (R-Va)'s idea to segregate aid to Israel from the rest of the foreign operations budget. As expected, the idea has been slammed by Nita Lowey (D-NY).

Lowey disparaged the idea Monday as "reckless" and "outrageous."

“Minority Whip Cantor’s proposal is as transparent as it is reckless," Lowey said in a statement. "Manipulating aid to Israel in this way would dangerously threaten continued bipartisan agreement on national security policy and programs other than direct assistance to Israel that aid in its security."

What's more, Lowey said, the foreign ops bill Cantor said the GOP may vote against "funds U.S. diplomatic efforts at the State Department, including diplomacy related to peace in the Middle East. It aids other countries in the region to help defeat al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations and includes non-proliferation initiatives," she said. "Because it is inextricably linked with broader U.S. national security goals, separating assistance for Israel in order to make it easier for Republican members to vote against the foreign aid bill would be counterproductive.

“Too much is at stake to give Republicans in Congress a license to vote against the foreign aid budget, and it is clear that Eric Cantor’s outrageous proposal is based purely on political motives, not what is best for U.S. or global security," she concluded.

The idea of cutting the State Department's budget or cutting aid to the 'Palestinians' or Lebanon or Egypt by forcing them to be voted upon separately from aid to Israel is actually appealing. My concern is what happens when there is a different Congress, a different President and maybe even a different Foreign Appropriations Committee chair. My concern is the JW Fulbright scenario.

But I'm still reserving judgment.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:25 AM