The new US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson said he expects action in the House this week to advance a funding bill to support Israel individually, even though President Joe Biden is seeking a $106 billion aid package for Israel and Ukraine combined.
“We’ll introduce a single bill to fund Israel this week in the House of Representatives,” Johnson said in an interview with Fox News on Sunday, adding that he believes this measure will gain bipartisan support and that Republicans will support a similar measure in the Senate.
Members of the House of Representatives, where Republicans hold a slim majority, are scheduled to return from recess on Wednesday.
“There are a lot of things going on around the world that we have to deal with and we will,” Johnson said, without explicitly addressing the conflict in Ukraine.
He continued saying, “But what is happening now in Israel receives immediate attention, and we must focus on this and pass it”.
Biden called on Congress to approve supplemental appropriations worth $106 billion, with the bulk of it allocated to strengthening Ukraine’s defenses against Russia and the rest divided between Israel, the Indo-Pacific region, and enforcing immigration laws along the US-Mexico border.
Johnson said that strengthening support for Israel should top the US national security agenda.
