The cease fire that wasn’t really a cease fire has completely collapsed, with Trump threatening to bomb Iranian power plants and bridges (since bombing them before was so effective). In the Senate, Democrats have held up the Defense Authorization over the resumption of hostilities.
Something else that would help bring the war to a close would be to deny military aid to Israel, since they’re a constant spoiler in the peace efforts. However, that isn’t going to happen:
Top House Democrats split on Tuesday over a proposal to block aid for Israel’s military, with two of the party’s highest-ranking lawmakers saying they will oppose the effort while the chair of the progressive caucus encouraged his colleagues to back the defunding.
The debate over an amendment introduced by Republican congressman Thomas Massie to halt $3.3bn in aid for Israel – the majority of which would go to its military – comes as Democrats grapple with a rebellion among their voters over the party’s support for the Middle Eastern ally, which has fueled the defeats of a series of congressional incumbents in recent primaries.
The proposed amendment would affect legislation funding the state department and related agencies for the coming fiscal year, which the House of Representatives is expected to vote on this week. House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries circulated a letter among Democrats saying he would vote against Massie’s provision, the New York Times reported, calling it “overly broad”.
He warned the amendment could cut off funds for humanitarian aid programs and complicate efforts to counter militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. The minority leader’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
“In my view, there are more decisive ways to achieve the urgent change necessary when it comes to the far-right Netanyahu government,” Jeffries wrote. He also accused the House’s Republican leaders of “trying to weaponize an amendment they do not support for nakedly partisan reasons”.
However, he said, he would not launch a formal effort to sway his party’s vote, citing “the strongly held views throughout the caucus in this important area of foreign policy”.
[…]
In a letter to members of the congressional progressive caucus obtained by the Guardian, its chair, Greg Casar, said he would vote yes on the amendment, and encouraged his colleagues to join him. “The American people are crying out for an end to US tax dollars subsidizing Israel’s military,” he wrote.
I’ve seen various estimates of the number of Democrats who will vote for this bill, and the biggest number I’ve seen is 175 — if that’s the real number, Jeffries is out of step with his caucus, and his decision to let them vote their conscience is in part to hide his weakness on this issue.
After reading Kay’s post about the left and the right yesterday, I decided to do a little research on Rep Hayley Stevens. I hadn’t seen much of her, but this clip is very bad:
It’s short, basically it’s Steven’s saying, “I will continue to fight for the people of Israel. I will continue to fight for Israel’s existence. Israel comes to me in my dreams…”
I don’t know when she said that, but it’s at least a decade after Netanyahu signaled that he’s going to support Republicans. If I were thinking about the right next steps in dealing with Israel, my dreams would include shafting the motherfucker who shafted us a decade ago and then green-lighted a genocide in Gaza, and fucking him over in a way that might lead to the installation of a bit more rational government in his country. Cutting off military aid is step one in that process. Stevens is no debutante, she should know better.
