Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) is expressing concern that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's (R-CA) debt limit bill lacks an explicit carveout for Israel among promised foreign aid cuts.
McCarthy was able to hold enough of the House Republican Conference together last week to pass his debt ceiling budget proposal, which is meant to serve as an opening salvo in negotiations with the White House. The legislation pairs nearly $4.8 trillion in deficit reduction measures with a debt limit increase into the next year. Among those measures are significant cuts to domestic and foreign aid. While the House speaker vowed that security assistance for Israel will remain untouched, his bill does not include any language exempting the country from proposed cuts.
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Wasserman Schultz, a powerhouse fundraiser and leading pro-Israel voice in the Democratic Party, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the budget maneuvers utilized in the bill could reduce $3.3 billion in U.S. defense assistance by as much as $726 million.
“They have nothing in [McCarthy's] bill with specificity that ensures that foreign aid to Israel will be protected,” Wasserman Schultz said. "That puts Israel’s security at risk. Without any specificity or explicit protection, we can’t be sure that Israel is safe.”
A McCarthy spokesman disputed the idea that there would be any cuts to Israel's foreign aid when reached by the Washington Examiner and pointed to a quote from the House speaker's address to the Knesset last week that read, "As long as I am Speaker, America will continue to support full funding for security assistance in Israel."
The spokesman declined to address the matter of an explicit Israel exemption being omitted from the legislative text that passed the House last Wednesday.
A representative for Wasserman Schultz did not respond to the Washington Examiner's request for comment on whether she or her office had been in touch with McCarthy over the Israel concerns.
The House Democrat told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that while she welcomed McCarthy's verbal reassurance on the matter, she worried the cuts would affect foreign aid generally, possibly undermining U.S. influence internationally. She said in a text to the wire service that the bill "would decimate support for our partners and diplomatic efforts in the region and undercut Israel’s overall security."
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It's a concern shared by AIPAC, the leading pro-Israel advocacy group, which told the wire service that it was also seeking assurances that cuts to Israel were off the table.
"We are continuing our work with congressional leaders to ensure full funding of security assistance to Israel, without additional conditions,” Marshall Wittmann, AIPAC’s spokesman, said in a statement. “This is a top legislative priority, as it is in the security interests of the U.S and our ally Israel, and we are pleased that many members of Congress have already written senior members of the Appropriations Committee in support of this funding.”