New GOP House speaker proposes aiding Israel with IRS funds meant to nab rich US tax cheats
Peter Weber, The Week US – October 31, 2023
House Speaker Mike Johnson.
House Republicans on Monday proposed giving Israel $14.3 billion in emergency military aid, but their bill would pay for that aid “by cutting IRS funds aimed at cracking down on rich tax cheats and improving taxpayer service,” The Washington Post reported. The aid package is the first substantive legislation released under new House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). And if it passes in the House, it stands no chance of making it through the Senate.
President Biden requested $14.3 billion to help Israel in its war against Hamas but he paired it with $61 billion in aid for Ukraine plus another $10 billion in humanitarian aid for Ukraine, Israel and Gaza. The Senate is following that approach of bundling the aid together in one package, with bipartisan support. The House GOP bill not only removes the Ukraine aid, but also attempts to take another bite out of the Inflation Reduction Act’s $80 billion for increased enforcement of tax laws among noncompliant wealthy individuals and companies, plus money for the IRS’s new free online tax filing service.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the $80 billion spent on IRS enforcement would reduce the deficit by nearly $200 billion. The White House said the House GOP’s latest attempt to “help the wealthy and big corporations cheat on their taxes” would grow the deficit. Mark Mazur, a former assistant treasury secretary, said the proposed cuts are “like if you take a dollar from the IRS and throw a $5 bill out the window.”
Johnson defended his “first draft of this bill” on Fox News, saying the priority of Democrats may be “to bulk up the IRS” but most Americans would “say standing with Israel and protecting the innocent over there is in our national interest and is a more immediate need than IRS agents.”
House GOP’s Israel Aid Plan Would Add Billions to Deficit: CBO
Yuval Rosenberg – November 1, 2023
Jack Gruber/USA Today
House Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan to cut IRS funding to pay for the cost of a $14.3 billion aid package to Israel would add billions to the deficit over the next 10 years, according to a new estimate from the Congressional Budget Office.
The nonpartisan budget scorekeeper projected that rescinding more than $14 billion in IRS funding as the House GOP proposes to do would scale back the tax agency’s enforcement and consequently decrease revenues by $26.8 billion from 2024 through 2033. The revenue loss would far outweigh the spending cuts, resulting in a net increase in the deficit of $12.5 billion from the IRS portion of the plan — and the aid to Israel would bring the total cost of the bill to nearly $27 billion.
IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said Tuesday that the cuts to his budget in the House bill would increase the deficit by far more, estimating it would add $90 billion over 10 years — a figure that The Washington Post reports is “based on IRS modeling that shows a 6-to-1 ratio of money spent on tax enforcement to revenue collected.”
House plan is DOA in the Senate: The CBO score was seen as a blow to the House plan, particularly given that if the new speaker had not included the IRS cuts, the aid for Israel would likely pass the House with strong bipartisan support, potentially jamming the Senate and lawmakers who favor packaging aid to Israel with more money to support Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Johnson dismissed the CBO estimate, telling reporters: “We don’t put much credence in what the CBO says.”
In truth, the CBO report is likely little more than a formality at this point since Johnson’s plan — if it can even pass the narrowly divided House — would be doomed in the Senate, where Democrats oppose the IRS funding cuts and are looking to combine aid to Israel with the Ukraine assistance and other emergency funding requested by President Joe Biden.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday called the House plan “totally unserious and woefully inadequate” and criticized its fiscal effects. “Here, the House is talking about needing a pay-for to reduce the deficit – and they put in a provision that actually increases the deficit. Why? Because they don’t want their super-rich, mega-wealthy friends to be audited by the IRS, like every other citizen is,” Schumer said. “So the House GOP proposal is not going to go anywhere. It’s dead before it even is voted on.”
Schumer urged Johnson to start over in a more bipartisan fashion, but the speaker reportedly told a gathering of Senate Republicans that military aid to Israel must move as a standalone bill because a larger package cannot pass with the support of the House Republican majority. Johnson reportedly also told the senators that he backs more aid to Ukraine but that it would need to be paired with reforms to border security. The speaker, relatively unknown to his Senate counterparts, reportedly also said that he’s focused on passing what he can through the House and would worry later about reconciling those bills with Senate versions.
With the November 17 deadline to avoid a government shutdown approaching, Johnson also said he will look to pass a stopgap spending bill that runs through mid-January rather than the mid-April timeframe he had previously said was also a possibility.
Biden threatens a veto: The White House has made clear that the House plan is unacceptable to President Joe Biden, who would veto it if it somehow lands on his desk.
In a lengthy and forceful statement issued Tuesday evening, the White House slammed the GOP plan as unnecessarily politicizing aid to Israel, excluding essential humanitarian assistance and failing to meet the urgent needs of the moment. “It inserts partisanship into support for Israel, making our ally a pawn in our politics, at a moment we must stand together. It denies humanitarian assistance to vulnerable populations around the world, including Palestinian civilians, which is a moral and strategic imperative. And by requiring offsets for this critical security assistance, it sets a new and dangerous precedent by conditioning assistance for Israel, further politicizing our support and treating one ally differently from others,” the White House said. “This bill is bad for Israel, for the Middle East region, and for our own national security.”
The bottom line: Even with the new CBO score, Johnson and House Republicans plan on passing their Israel aid bill on Friday, setting a confrontational tone for the series of budget battles that lie ahead — and making clear that they have priorities that take precedence over deficit reduction.
Here’s Exactly How Much House Republicans’ Israel Bill Would Cost
Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling – November 1, 2023
The House GOP’s quest to trade $14.3 billion in IRS cuts for $14.3 billion in emergency aid to Israel has an updated price tag, and surprise, surprise: It’s much steeper than it anticipated.
Instead of decreasing the deficit, the multibillion-dollar slash to the IRS proposed by newly minted House Speaker Mike Johnson would actually cost the government more than $26 billion in lost revenue by 2033, according to a Congressional Budget Office report issued Wednesday. The result would add nearly $12.5 billion to the national deficit over the next 10 years, the CBO predicted.
Some officials estimate that the true number could be even higher.
IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel believes the damages may be more to the tune of $90 billion in lost revenue over the next decade and that the cuts would reduce the government’s ability to audit large corporations and the wealthy, reported The Washington Post.
“All of those funds go to increased scrutiny on tax evasion going on at the highest wealth, and that is millionaires and billionaires and large corporations and large complex corporations,” Werfel told the Post. “When you reduce those audits, you reduce the amount of money that we can collect and return to the Treasury for other priorities.”
Ultimately, Republicans’ plan to “offset” funding for Israel with cuts to the IRS would backfire quite badly.
At stake is an already-approved $80 billion expansion to the IRS that is projected to cut the deficit by more than $100 billion by way of improved tax collections, operations support, free filing for taxpayers, an office of tax policy, and tax court. The Congressional Budget Office has repeatedly warned that cutting IRS funding will encourage tax cheating and increase the deficit, though that didn’t stop Johnson from attempting to chip some money off the arrangement.
“If you put this to the American people, and they weigh the two needs, I think they are going to say standing with Israel and protecting the innocent is in our national interest, and a more immediate need than IRS agents,” Johnson told Fox News on Tuesday.
US State and Defense secretaries to try to persuade Congress to approve joint aid to Ukraine and Israel
Ukrainska Pravda – October 31, 2023
US State Secretary Antony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will try to convince US congressmen on Tuesday that it is in the country’s interest to approve President Biden’s US$106 billion request to support Ukraine, Israel and US border security. Blinken and Austin will testify before the US Senate Committee on Appropriations regarding Biden’s request.
Details: Arguing that the support of American partners is vital to national security, Biden asked Congress to approve further assistance to Ukraine worth US$61.4 billion.
Biden also asked for US$14.3 billion for Israel, US$9 billion for humanitarian aid – including for Israel and Gaza – US$13.6 billion for US border security, US$4 billion for military assistance, and government funding to counter China’s regional efforts in Asia.
The way forward for Biden’s funding plan looks uncertain. Democrats and many Republicans in the Democratic-majority Senate support Biden’s strategy of combining aid to Ukraine with support for Israel.
But the Republicans who lead the House of Representatives are opposed to combining the two issues. Opinion polls show that public support for aid to Ukraine is decreasing, and many Republicans, especially those who are most supportive of former President Donald Trump, are opposed to it.
Background:
On Monday, Republicans introduced a bill to provide US$14.3 billion in aid to Israel separately from Ukraine.
Republican Mike Johnson, the newly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives, said last week that he wanted aid to Israel and Ukraine to be considered separately in the House. He said that the aid provided to Kyiv should be considered more attentively.
‘Morning Joe’ Torches ‘Gross’ Mike Johnson for Picking Fight With Biden Over Israel Funding (Video)
Natalie Korach – October 31, 2023
MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” slammed new Speaker of the House Mike Johnson for “setting up a clash over how to approve the aid to Israel,” as his first move in the role.
Co-host Mika Brzezinski summarized Johnson’s latest move as House Speaker as taking “the bipartisan goodwill of providing aid for Israel and launching a fight with President Biden over his signature achievement while setting up a collision course with the Senate.”
The aid package for Israel released by House Republicans yesterday includes $14.3 billion in emergency funding, however, there’s a catch.
“The bill rescinds that same amount of IRS funding from the Inflation Reduction Act,” said Brzezinski. “The act is the major climate, health care, and tax law that President Biden signed into law last year.”
Brzezinski noted that the bill also excludes aid for Ukraine, “despite President Biden’s request for aid to both.”
“If the bill passes the Republican-controlled House, the IRS provisions are all but guaranteed to be rejected by the Democratic-led Senate and the White House,” continued Brzezinski. “Setting up a clash over how to approve the aid to Israel and of course, leaving Ukraine out.”
“Well, of course leaving Ukraine out,” co-host Joe Scarborough chimed in. “I mean, it’s a great start.”
“Remarkable how tone-deaf my former party is. They are actually putting billionaires between the protection of Israel and the United States Congress,” said Scarborough.
The “Morning Joe” co-host claimed “They’re taking the money that was passed and they’re gutting the IRS’s ability to go after billionaire tax cheats. And they think that’s the solution.”
“We got this Mike Johnson guy who was part of a Congress that spent more money and drove us deeper into debt over a four-year period than any Congress in the history of the United States of America,” said Scarborough.
“And now suddenly he won’t even help Jews protect themselves,” he continued. “It is so gross and making it even grosser, he says, here’s what we’re gonna do: We will protect the Jews if you protect the billionaires.”
Scarborough said he’s “never truly heard of a dumber plan to start a speakership than to put Jews’ lives in danger so you can protect billionaire tax cheats.”
Trump is slamming Israel and babbling about Barack Obama. Who would vote for that mess?
Rex Huppke, USA TODAY – October 13, 2023
Former president and current criminal defendant Donald Trump, the front-runner in the GOP presidential primary, is getting worse.
I realize that’s a mighty high bar for him to clear, but he’s doing it, each day showing independent voters and Republicans who still value sane leadership why he should never be allowed within 10 square miles of the White House.
In the wake of the hideous Hamas attack on Israel, with American lawmakers and both sides of the aisle pledging full support for our ally, Trump’s political instincts told him to slam Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and say: “Israel was not prepared.”
Trump criticizes Israel then praises Hezbollah. Whose side is he on?
“You know, Hezbollah is very smart,” Trump said. “They’re all very smart.”
MAGA loyalists’ minds won’t be changed by anything, but those voters also won’t be enough, should Trump win the GOP nomination, to get him back into office. He’ll need to win over independents and even some moderate Republicans who put country over party while making headway with the ever-growing number of Generation Z voters who, based on recent elections, broadly reject Trump’s MAGA movement.
How is he going to do all that when he’s running around the country insulting an ally reeling from an unspeakable terror attack and generally sounding like his brain has turned to oatmeal?
Trump’s insensitive Israel comments are just the start of his recent madness
Consider an assortment of baffling/disturbing comments Trump has made in speeches and on social media just in recent weeks.
He has repeatedly misidentified President Joe Biden as former President Barack Obama, recently saying at a rally “you take a look at Obama and look at some of the things he’s done” and then, in an interview this week about Biden’s response to the attack on Israel, saying, “It’s all coming through Iran, and Obama, he doesn’t want to talk about it. … He doesn’t even mention them in a statement.”
The Fox News interviewer had to correct him afterward.
Trump can’t keep Jeb Bush and George W. Bush straight …
In another recent interview, Trump said: “We have the worst education almost in the large world, the world that people know about.” As opposed to the large world people don’t know about?
Referring to Jeb Bush, Trump said: “He got us into the Middle East. How did that work out?” It was President George W. Bush who “got us into the Middle East.”
… much less Joe Biden and Barack Obama
In a Sept. 15 speech in Washington, D.C., Trump suggested Biden will lead America into World War II, which ended in 1945: “We have a man who is totally corrupt and the worst president in the history of our country, who is cognitively impaired, in no condition to lead and is now in charge of dealing with Russia and possible nuclear war. Just think of it, we would be in World War II very quickly if we’re going to be relying on this man.”
When questioning someone’s lucidity, it’s generally best to sound lucid yourself.
Do independent voters want a president echoing the words of Hitler?
“We’ll stand up to crazy Nancy Pelosi, who ruined San Francisco – how’s her husband doing, anybody know?” Trump said as the crowd laughed. “And she’s against building a wall at our border, even though she has a wall around her house – which obviously didn’t do a very good job.”
Speaking of immigrants, Trump said in an interview earlier this month: “It is a very sad thing for our country. It’s poisoning the blood of our country.”
That language mirrors lines in Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” and is in line with the way white supremacists discuss immigrants.
Face it, the drunk at the end of the bar is making more sense than Trump
And in a Florida speech this week, he went on this rant (I’ve used all-caps and phonetic spelling to illustrate the pronunciation of words he loudly emphasized): “Instead of keeping terrorists and terrorist sympathizers out of America, the Biden administration is inviting them in. You know why, because he’s got a boss. Who’s his boss? Barack HOO-SANE Obama. Barack Hoo-sane Obama. You remember the great Rush Limbaugh, Barack Hoo-SANE Obama. He’d go, Barack Hoo-SANE Obama.”
While Republicans question Biden’s age, Trump appears to be losing it
Petty criticism of Israel (Trump remains mad at Netanyahu because the prime minister accepted that Biden won the 2020 election), violent rhetoric, mixing up the names of political rivals, mocking an attack on a lawmaker’s spouse and generally sounding like the town drunk slouched at the end of the bar airing conspiratorial grievances. And that’s only a small sample of Trump’s madness over the past few weeks.
Setting aside his two impeachments, his incitement of an attack on the U.S. Capitol, his election denialism and the 91 state and federal felony charges he faces, I have to ask independents and on-the-fence Republicans alike: Would you actually vote for that mess? Is that really the best the Republican Party can offer America and the world?
People will keep taking swipes at Biden’s age, though Trump is only three years younger. But if you listen and pay attention to the former president, you’ll see a profoundly unhinged man teetering on a full separation from reality.
The ham has slipped off his sandwich. It’s time to stop pretending otherwise.
Russia is bringing back its bloody ‘human wave’ tactics, throwing poorly trained troops into a massive new assault in eastern Ukraine, White House says
Sonam Sheth and Jake Epstein – October 13, 2023
The White House said Russia has resumed using bloody tactics in its war against Ukraine.
It involves throwing “masses of poorly trained soldiers right into the battlefield without proper equipment” John Kirby said.
Kirby also said that North Korea sent Russia 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions.
The White House said Friday that Russia has resumed employing the so-called “human wave” tactic in its war against Ukraine.
“As was the case during Russia’s failed winter offensive last year, the Russian military appears to be using human wave tactics, where they throw masses of poorly trained soldiers right into the battlefield without proper equipment, and … without proper training and preparation,” John Kirby, the spokesperson for the National Security Council, said.
He added that Russia “continues to show no regard for the lives of its own soldiers, willingly sacrificing them in pursuit of Putin’s goals, while Ukraine continues to fight bravely, effectively, and smartly.”
Kirby said that where Russia is making progress, it is “very scant and short.” But he said Russia’s decision to resume human wave tactics is “a sobering reminder that Russia is not prepared to give up on this fight. And as long as Russia continues its brutal assault on Ukraine, the United States must support the Ukrainian peoples’ ability to defend themselves.”
The Pentagon on Wednesday announced a new security assistance package to help Ukraine fend off Russian aggression. It’s the Biden administration’s 48th “tranche of equipment” provided to Ukraine since August 2021, the Pentagon said, and it includes additional anti-tank weapons, air defense capabilities, and other equipment.
Kirby said Friday that Russia launched its renewed offensive in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
He added that this wasn’t a surprise, given Russian President Vladimir Putin’s goal of bringing Ukraine back into the Soviet sphere of influence.
“And I would add that we have seen the Ukrainians work very hard to repel these offensive maneuvers, and they appear to have done just that,” Kirby said.
The White House also said North Korea recently sent Russia 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions and that it believes North Korea wants Russian military assistance in return, including fighter aircraft, armored vehicles, ballistic missile production equipment, and surface-to-air missiles.
White House
Kirby said the US is closely monitoring whether Moscow delivers on Pyongyang’s expectations, adding that “we have already observed Russian ships offloading containers in the DPRK, which may constitute … the initial deliveries of material from Russia.”
Kirby said that a military alliance between Russia and North Korea could undermine “regional stability and the global nonproliferation regime” and that the US is taking several steps in response to sanction the two countries.
Related:
The Hill
White House: North Korea has provided Russia with 1K containers of military equipment, munitions
Alex Gangitano – October 13, 2023
The White House on Friday announced North Korea has delivered military equipment to Russia amid the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Due in part to our sanctions and export controls, Russia has been forced to desperately search around the world for military equipment,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. “We now have information that North Korea has delivered arms to Russia for use in Ukraine. Our information indicates that in recent weeks, North Korea has provided Russia with more than 1000 containers of military equipment and munitions.”
The White House released imagery Friday showing the movement of these containers from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) into Russia by ship.
“We condemn the DPRK for providing Russia with this military equipment,” Kirby said, adding that the White House will monitor the situation and continue to expose such arms deals.
The update follows weeks of concerns over North Korean attempts to negotiate an arms deal with Russia. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with Russian President Vladimir Putin last month.
Graphic provided by the White House National Security Council.
Kirby said U.S. officials are now monitoring closely whether Moscow will provide Pyongyang with materials.
“This expanding military partnership between the DPRK and Russia, including any technology transfers from Russia to the DPRK, undermines regional stability and the global non-proliferation regime,” he said.
On Thursday, an American aircraft carrier arrived in South Korea as a demonstration of strength as tensions rise with North Korea. The carrier group will stay in Busan until Monday, following military drills with South Korea and Japan earlier this week.
The White House has warned North Korea against supplying Russia with arms amid its war against Ukraine. National security adviser Jake Sullivan last month said Pyongyang will “pay a price” if it follows through on a potential deal.
Empire building has always come at an economic cost for Russia – from the days of the czars to Putin’s Ukraine invasion
Christopher A. Hartwell, Professor of International Business Policy, ZHAW School of Management and Law and Paul Vaaler, Professor of Law and Business, University of Minnesota – October 13, 2023
The Russian economy: A Potemkin village? Getty Images
President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has come at huge economic costs. By conservative estimates, the Russian economy has taken a US$67 billion annual hit as a result of war expenses and the effects of economic sanctions. In the early stages of the invasion, some analysts put the costs even higher, at $900 million per day.
These war costs show no sign of abating. The newly released Russian government budget for 2024 calls for a 70% defense expenditure increase, an astonishing reallocation of precious resources for a war that some observers expected to last a week at most.
Indeed, if you were to tune in to broadcasts of state-run RT television’s “CrossTalk” with American host Peter Lavelle, you’d be reassured that hardly anyone notices “irrelevant” Western sanctions, with even some reputable Western economists claiming that sanctions are harming Europe more than Russia.
Certainly, Muscovite oligarchs can still stroll across Red Square to Agent Provocateur and the GUM luxury shopping mall to buy lingerie for their wives and perhaps mistresses, too. And almost 8 in 10 Russians report to pollsters that sanctions have not affected their daily lives.
Such an economic hit was to be expected. As we show in a preprint study, imperial overreach from Russia in territories that are not its own has resulted in long-term damage to the Russian economy for over a century. More importantly, even during czarist times, rebellion in the modern-day lands of Ukraine against Russian rule led to the highest costs for the Russian economy.
Huge boost in military spending
Russia’s ability to seemingly absorb massive shocks since February 2022 is due in part to producers becoming accustomed to the milder sanctions that began in 2014 with the initial invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea.
This approach has continued with the Russian government’s 2024 budget, which is currently on its way to be rubber-stamped in the Russian parliament, the Duma. While mobilization of troops for Russia’s growing quagmire is moving in fits and starts, the Kremlin has proceeded with a full-scale economic mobilization. Expenditures on defense are forecast to be 6% of the country’s GDP, making up a full 29% of all Russian government spending, according to an analysis by the Bank of Finland, and with an additional 9% spent on “national security.” In contrast, social programs are a mere 21% of the budget. Compare this with the United States, where defense spending is 3% of GDP and 12% of all government expenditures.
Financial markets have reacted poorly to Russia’s most recent imperial adventure. The ruble’s turbulence is well known, once again breaking 100 rubles to the dollar on Oct. 3, 2023, but Russia’s inability to service its debt has been more under the radar.
For the first time since the Bolsheviks refused to honor the country’s foreign debt in 1918, Russia defaulted on its foreign currency payments in June 2022, and major ratings agencies stopped rating Russian government bonds.
At the same time, bond yields on existing Russian government debt – an excellent measure of fiscal risk – have been climbing almost continuously since the first invasion of Ukraine in 2014, rising to nearly 14% in 2014 and recently climbing to over 13%, an 18-month high.
Ponzi-like scheme
The combination of military aggression, stretched finances and battlefield stagnation are nothing new for Russia, especially in Ukraine. As our study shows, czarist fiscal management from 1820 to 1914 was based on a Ponzi-like scheme that funded land grabs and military expansion with government borrowing through bond issues, taxation of newly acquired territories and bond repayment by a government now overseeing a more geographically extensive state.
By 1914, Czar Nicholas II had bonds worth more than $155 billion in 2022 dollars trading abroad – by comparison, the value of British debt in 1914 equates to approximately $123 billion today.
Vladimir Putin’s handling of the economy since the early 2000s has been based on a similar pyramid scheme, we would argue. A combination of aggressive foreign borrowing and natural resource exports have financed foreign wars and domestic repression in territories of Russia’s near abroad: These have included conflicts in Chechnyaand Georgia in the 2000s; Crimea and the Donbas in the 2010s; and the rest of Ukraine in the 2020s. Until this current round of aggression toward Ukraine, the outcome of these conflicts appeared to favor Russia, with its seemingly strong central government, military and economy.
However, Russia may now be at an inflection point. Historically, when Russia’s military was successful, it was able to finance both its war machine and industrialization.
Yet even past military success put the regime on very shaky ground that allowed small setbacks to threaten its foundation. Military reversals such as the stunning loss to Japan in 1905 or even the costs associated with pacifying troublesome territories such as in the Caucasus created more difficulties and risk for Russian bond markets and its economy. Indeed, unrest, armed rebellion and serf revolts in the far reaches of the empire raised Russian bond yields by approximately 1%. This risk was much higher than if such unrest occurred even in St. Petersburg or Moscow.
And perhaps most importantly, in Ukraine the cost of empire during czarist times was the largest, with each rebellion or bout of unrest in Ukraine raising Russian yields by between 3% and 3.5%.
With its newest defense budget going “all in” on its already faltering invasion of Ukraine, Russia appears to have learned none of the lessons of its past. Then as now, Ukraine and Ukrainian defiance constituted a grave threat to Russian territorial ambitions.
In 2024, that defiance just might prove too determined and too costly for an increasingly fragile Russian economy. And as in 1917, the consequences could be far beyond the control of the modern-day czar in the Kremlin.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Here’s the military support the US is sending toward Israel, from US Navy ships to munitions
Elias Chavez – October 11, 2023
Missiles launched from the Iron Dome defense system attempting to intercept a rocket fired from the Gaza strip.MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images
The US is sending munitions, aircraft carriers, and fighter jets toward Israel after the Hamas attacks.
The aid package includes the newest and most advanced aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford.
Specific munitions are uncertain, but Israel needs weapons for their Iron Dome defense system.
After the surprise attacks on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas over the weekend, the US has been swift in its response and providing aid.
On October 7, Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing hundreds of civilians and abducting others. Israel responded with a series of airstrikes throughout the Gaza Strip.
Some 1,000 Israelis had been killed as of Tuesday, with another 3,400 injured, Israel’s embassy in the US said. Gaza’s health ministry reported at least 830 Palestinians had been killed, with at least 4,250 injured.
Here’s what the US is providing to and around Israel amid the conflict.
The USS Gerald R. Ford, the US Navy’s newest and most advanced aircraft carrier to date.
The USS Gerald R. Ford in a fjord in Oslo.STIAN LYSBERG SOLUM/NTB/AFP via Getty Images
The supercarrier, out on its first full deployment, is now moving toward Israel as a show of support from the US, as Insider previously reported.
Included in the USS Gerald R. Ford strike force are a number of other cruisers and destroyers.
The USS Normandy, a Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser.
The US Navy Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy getting underway for deployment as part of the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group.U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Colbey Livingston/Handout via REUTERS
The USS Normandy can fire missiles to strike land targets or fire missiles to defend against aircraft or incoming missiles.
The USS Thomas Hudner, one of four Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers in the fleet.
The USS Thomas Hudner in the Bosphorus on its way to the Mediterranean Sea in 2021.REUTERS/Murad Sezer
The USS Thomas Hudner provides both offensive and defensive capabilities and can act independently or as part of a larger strike force.
The USS Ramage, another Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer.
The USS Ramage in the Arabian Gulf.REUTERS/Specialist 2nd Class Miguel Angel Contreras/U.S. Navy/Handout
The USS Ramage similarly provides offensive and defensive capabilities for the strike force.
The US Navy destroyer USS Carney.
The US Navy destroyer USS Carney on its way to the Mediterranean Sea.REUTERS/Yoruk Isik.
The USS Carney is another Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and was first launched in 1994. The ship has since been upgraded in 2009 and 2016, where it received a new cannon and missile launcher.
The USS Roosevelt, designed to operate independently in a high-density, multi-threat environment.
The USS Roosevelt, a US Navy ship, sets sail in the Bosphorus.REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo
The USS Roosevelt is the fourth Arleigh-Burke-class guided-missile destroyer in the fleet.
Several F-35 fighter jets, considered to be the most advanced fighter jet in the world.
F-35A Lockheed Martin fighter jet lands on a motorway.NTB/Ole Andreas Vekve via REUTERS
The US is also augmenting several of its Air Force operations in the region, including F-35 fighter jets.
The US is deploying several of the stealth fighters to help deter Iran, a regional adversary that backs Hamas and Hezbollah.
Insider previously reported about 20-25 fighters would head to the region and be tasked with deterring the expansion of the war and preventing potential Iranian aggression.
Several F-15 fighter jets.
An Israeli F-15 fighter jet takes off during a joint international aerial training exercise.REUTERS/Amir Cohen
F-15s are extremely maneuverable, tactical fighters designed to give the Air Force an upper hand in air-to-air combat.
Several F-16 fighter jets, designed for both air-to-air combat as well as air-to-ground combat.
An F-16 fighter jet at the Volkel Air Base.REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
The F-16 is a versatile and lightweight fighter.
Several A-10 fighter jets, designed to provide close air support to ground forces.
A US Air Force A-10 fighter aircraft stands during a media day.Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/picture alliance via Getty Images
They’re designed to be used against maritime attacks and ground targets such as tanks and other armored vehicles.
Israel reportedly requested interceptors and precision-guided munitions.
Rockets fired from Gaza City being intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome defense system.EYAD BABA/AFP via Getty Images
Al Jazeera reported that $2 billion worth of US munitions had been pre-supplied to be used in case of emergencies in Israel.
Correction: October 11, 2023 — An earlier version of this story incorrectly described the source of the Israeli death and injury estimates. The Israeli Embassy in Washington provided the death estimate, and the Israeli health ministry, which is not in Washington, provided the injury estimate. The story was updated with the embassy’s Tuesday estimates for those killed and injured.
Biden and Congress Craft $2 Billion Aid Package as Israel Vows to ‘Crush’ Hamas
Eric Cortellessa – October 11, 2023
President Joe Biden confers with his National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan during a roundtable with Jewish community leaders in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Oct. 11, 2023, in Washington, DC. Credit – Drew Angerer—Getty Images
As Israel prepares to launch a likely ground invasion into Gaza, the Biden Administration and leading members of Congress are crafting an American aid package of roughly $2 billion in supplementary funding to support the nation’s war effort against Hamas, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell TIME.
The funding would go toward replenishing Israel’s stockpile of interceptors for its Iron Dome missile-defense system, artillery shells, and other munitions. If approved, the assistance would come at a crucial time for Israel, as it gears for a lengthy and devastating offensive against the terror group that brutally massacred more than 1,200 Israelis in Saturday’s surprise attack.
“We’re heading into a war for many, many weeks, maybe several months, in which the objective is to dismantle Hamas,” Rep. Brad Sherman, a California Democrat, told TIME shortly after attending a briefing from White House officials on the situation. “It will be perhaps the highest casualty war Israel has faced since the War of Independence,” he added, referring to the 1948 blitz that five Arab nations waged against Israel shortly after its establishment. “But Israel didn’t ask for this.”
While there’s strong bipartisan consensus on bolstering Israel’s campaign against Hamas, the White House is planning to tie that assistance to more polarizing causes: military support for Ukraine and Taiwan and increased border security funding. In a call with senators Tuesday night, administration officials said they were drawing up a supplemental defense package that would cover all four portfolios, according to a source on the call.
That’s sure to turn the measure into a flashpoint in Washington. Many hard-right Republican lawmakers vehemently oppose sending more resources to Ukraine and have been willing to destabilize the government over it. A small band of right-wing rebels recently ousted Rep. Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker in part because of his continued support for U.S. assistance to Ukraine.
The White House would not confirm or deny its plans. “We’re in active conversations with Congress about additional funding that we know we need specifically for Israel and Ukraine,” White House National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby said. “I’m not prepared to detail those conversations for you right now or tell you what the parameters are going to be.”
Both Sherman and a senior White House official said they expect President Joe Biden to send a formal request to Congress over supplementary Israel funding in the coming weeks. “My tentative figure, along with a number of others, is that we can introduce legislation on this for $2 billion,” says Sherman, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. While Biden may want to leverage GOP eagerness to help Israel swiftly in order to secure a new tranche of Ukraine aid, Sherman expects the Israeli package will ultimately pass as a stand-alone measure.
The effort to advance supplementary Israel aid comes after the country suffered a massive intelligence and military failure over the weekend, resulting in a multi-front incursion by Hamas terrorists into Israel through land, air, and sea. The militants stormed kibbutzim in southern Israel near the Gaza border, where they savagely attacked civilians—including acts of barbarism such as beheading babies—and took hundreds hostage. At least 14 Americans were killed in the attack and others were taken hostage. Administration officials are unsure of the exact number of U.S. hostages but said on Wednesday that 17 Americans are still missing.
Egyptian security officials warned Israel in the days ahead of a looming attack, according to multiple reports, and some in Israel have cast blame on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet for diverting military resources away from the Gaza border to protect West Bank settlements.
Since the attack, Netanyahu has declared a war against Hamas, vowing to abandon Jerusalem’s strategy of containing the Islamist group that rules the Gaza Strip. “Every Hamas member is a dead man,” the Israeli premier said. “Hamas is ISIS, and we will crush and eliminate it just as the world crushed and eliminated ISIS.”
The Israeli military has amassed forces along the Gaza border in what appears to be the early stages of a ground invasion. Meanwhile, the Pentagon has deployed an aircraft carrier strike group near the region to deter Hezbollah and other Iran-backed militant groups from joining the fight.
In remarks Tuesday, Biden said the U.S. was sending “additional military assistance” to the Jewish state. “We stand with Israel, and we will make sure it has what it needs to take care of its citizens, defend itself and respond to this attack.”
The escalating conflict stands to inflict even more destruction and suffering in the strip, where roughly 2.3 million Palestinians live. “We are imposing a complete siege on Gaza,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said this week. “There will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything will be closed.” At the White House’s congressional briefing Wednesday, several members pressed the administration on how it would ensure that Palestinian civilians in Gaza have access to food, water, and medicine in the coming months.
Both American and Israeli officials are anticipating support for Israel to waver as the war ramps up and Palestinian civilian casualties mount. Hamas is known to place its weapon depots in densely populated areas, effectively using Palestinian non-combatants as human shields. It then disseminates photos and videos of their deaths through media channels in an apparent bid to turn public opinion against Israel.
Still, officials say, the Biden Administration plans to stick with Israel over the long haul. It’s been warning members of Congress of the pain and bloodshed likely to come as Israel moves to decimate an enemy that caught it off guard. “Nothing is worse than underestimating your rival,” says Uzi Arad, Netanyahu’s National Security Adviser from 2009 to 2011. “We underestimated their determination or their motives or the extremes to which they were willing to go.”
