Last week, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., managed to get their “United States-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act” proposal ensuring the U.S. and Israel remain close allies with $3.3 billion for that nation’s security through the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Rubio’s and Coon’s proposal keeps funding levels established in the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two nations back in 2016. Their legislation continues those levels for an additional five years, extending it to FY2019-23.
Last week, Rubio and Coons offered their takes on why the bill was important.
“As the Jewish state of Israel faces volatile threats from Iran, Syria’s Assad regime, Hezbollah, Hamas and other malign actors, I commend my colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for passing this bipartisan bill to further strengthen our critical and strategic alliance with Israel,” Rubio said after the committee vote. “It is in America’s national security interest to ensure that Israel, a fellow democracy and most important ally in the Middle East, always has the capabilities to defend itself amid the region’s growing dangers.”
“The passage of this bipartisan legislation represents the continuation of America’s unshakable, seven-decade commitment to Israel’s security,” Coons said. “The security assistance included in this bill will help Israel protect itself in the midst of regional instability; deter – and if necessary defend against – Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas; and deepen bilateral ties for the next decade and beyond.”
The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a similar resolution in early May without opposition. The House sponsor is U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehitnen, R-Fla., the chairwoman of the U.S. House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee and the first woman to ever lead the House Foreign Affairs Committee. U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., the ranking Democrat on the House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, is the main cosponsor.
