Intel: AIPAC rebukes Democrats again for bill to keep US aid out of annexation

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) issued its third rebuke of Democratic lawmakers in as many weeks over their repeated attempts to keep Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from annexing significant portions of the West Bank.

The powerful lobby group’s latest salvo takes aim at legislation introduced by Senate Democrats that would bar the close US ally from using American military aid in “territories in the West Bank unilaterally annexed by Israel.” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and 12 other Democrats — including Appropriations Committee top Democrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont — introduced the legislation as an amendment to the annual defense bill.

In a lengthy Twitter thread, AIPAC argued that Van Hollen seeks to “ensure no US funds are used for annexation. But that’s already law. Aid can only be used for ‘internal security, for legitimate self-defense.’ This amendment goes far beyond current law in ways that jeopardize Israel’s security.”

After contending that current law already bars Israel from using US military aid to annex Palestinian territory, AIPAC nonetheless went on to assert that the amendment “undermines Israel’s security by prohibiting it from using US-made equipment to defend itself in a variety of foreseeable scenarios” and that it “restricts where Israel can place lifesaving missile defense systems like Iron Dome.”