Nearly all Senate Democrats shot down Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) proposal to block U.S. assistance from flowing to the Palestinian Authority until its acknowledges Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, renounces terrorism, and takes various other steps.
Paul’s commonsense amendment failed in a 44-50 vote. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who announced last year that he would not seek re-election, was the only Democratic senator to vote in favor of Paul’s amendment.
“Except as provided under paragraph (2) and notwithstanding any other provision of law, no amounts may be obligated or expended to provide any direct United States assistance, loan guarantee, or debt relief to the Palestinian Authority or any other Palestinian governing entity in the West Bank and Gaza,” the amendment read.
The proposal notes that the prohibition would no longer be in place once the president certifies to the U.S. legislature that the Palestinian entity has “formally recognized the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state,” “publicly recognized the state of Israel,” “renounced terrorism,” “purged all individuals with terrorist ties from security services,” “terminated funding of anti-American and anti-Israel incitement,” “publicly renounced Hamas and the October 7, 2023, attacks perpetrated by Hamas on Israel,” as well as “honored previous diplomatic agreements.”
The amendment also stipulated that another condition to lift the aid ban would be that “all hostages abducted on October 7, 2023, and held in territory governed by the Palestinian Authority or other Palestinian governing authority” must be released.
The proposal also called for “a report on the human rights practices of the Palestinian Authority, or any other Palestinian governing entity in the West Bank and Gaza.”
Hamas terrorists perpetrated heinous attacks against Israel last year on October 7, slaughtering, raping, and kidnapping people.
“It should not be too much to ask that the recipients of American aid renounce terrorism and cease trying to destroy Israel,” Paul noted during a speech.
Last week, Paul issued an anti-endorsement of GOP presidential primary contender Nikki Haley, declaring himself to be “never Nikki.”
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