10 ‘America first’ ways Congress can stand with Israel

Not only did Islamic jihadists brutally torture and massacre at least 1,400 Jews in Israel, but now Muslims and far leftists in every Western country are rampaging through the streets demanding more Jewish blood. So it’s understandable that Republicans would want to act upon their innate sympathy for Israel by sending them more money and weapons.

From a fiscal policy standpoint, however, that might not be so wise. America is broke and getting broker by the day. Knowing that, Congress should explore other options to aid Israel that put Americans first, unshackle Israel’s military from Joe Biden’s handcuffs, and protect Jews living in America from growing anti-Semitism and pro-Hamas sentiment.

Biden wants to send an additional $14.5 billion to Israel. It’s a trap Republicans would do well to avoid. Instead, they should defund Biden’s policies that buoy Israel’s enemies. Merely throwing more money at Israel without setting priorities would perpetuate the idea that other countries have first dibs on our debt-ridden treasury. That needs to change.

Here are 10 ways Congress could put America first, foster a minimalist approach in the Middle East, and free up Israel to do what it needs to protect itself.

1) Defund the Palestinians: What is the point of funding Israel if we are simultaneously funding those who seek its destruction? Biden has been sending several hundred million dollars a year to the Palestinian Authority, which has praised the Hamas attacks on Israel. Biden is also sending $100 million in “humanitarian aid” to Hamas fighters in Gaza. Finally, we funnel several hundred million every year through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, which has funded Hamas’s war machine for years. Republicans should end this funding immediately and pass the existing state-foreign ops appropriations bill that already includes a provision to defund the UNRWA.

2) No more U.S. troops in the Middle East: Biden has already sent hundreds of U.S. troops to Israel, in addition to the 4,000 or so we already have stationed in Iraq and Syria. Those troops are on hand to help impose a ceasefire. Moreover, the idea of having soldiers in Iraq and Syria is intellectually dyslexic. They are in-theater to protect Hezbollah and other Iranian assets from the Sunni insurgency. Yet while our soldiers are protecting Iranian assets, those very same Shiite proxies are attacking our troops. Various Shiite militias have launched at least 25 drone strikes against our bases over the past two weeks.

Our presence in these countries not only helps Iran, but it hinders Israel from attacking Hezbollah. Our government, ironically, is hamstringing Israel because we don’t want to raise the temperature of “the Arab street” in Iraq while we have troops on the ground. But we shouldn’t be in Iraq anyway. Pulling troops out of Iraq and Syria would put Americans first and give Israel a freer hand in dealing with Hezbollah. Finally, if House Republicans block funding for our Iranian protection racket, it would place Iran on the hook for the Sunni insurgency with the understanding that we won’t continue to bail Iran out.

3) Treat Iraq like the enemy it is: We continue to fund, train, and equip pro-Iranian Shiite militias in Iraq with ties to Israel’s mortal enemies. We also built a $1 billion embassy we are now forced to protect under precarious circumstances simply to obfuscate the fact that our 20-year “investment” there was a colossal failure. Not only did it fail, but we turned Iraq into an Iranian proxy, giving the mullahs Shiite hegemony from Tehran to the Mediterranean Sea. It’s well past time to defund our entire diplomatic and military engagement of the Iraqi regime.

4) Defund the Iran deal: Thanks to the Wall Street Journal, we now know that the Iranian government not only funded and directed the attacks but physically trained Hamas in Iran. Again, we need not spend billions of dollars and put boots on the ground; we merely need to exercise soft power and make the right alliances. That means undermining Biden’s alliance with Iran, which begins by prohibiting any funding for the implementation of the Iran deal.

5) Defund the Lebanese Armed Forces: Israel’s greatest threat is from Hezbollah on its northern border. We have helped fund and equip Hezbollah with weapons and counterintelligence that is used against Israel and might have been responsible for blinding Israel’s intelligence to the last month’s attacks. It is absurd to give Israel a blank check while funding its biggest enemy. Republicans must immediately prohibit all funding for Lebanon in the defense and state-foreign ops appropriations bills.

6) Stop funding two-state solution diplomacy: So much of our diplomatic infrastructure for 30 years has been geared toward a “two-state solution,” which is nothing more than the final solution for Israel that has given it Auschwitz borders. Congressional Republicans should prohibit all funding for diplomatic missions and programs related to this goal and instead direct funding toward the goal of resettling Arabs living in the Holy Land to other Islamic countries.

The same provisions in the appropriations bill funding the State Department should also prohibit the Biden administration from interfering in Israel’s internal affairs. Even after the massacre, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with “Brothers in Arms,” Israel’s equivalent of Antifa, in the hopes of toppling Netanyahu and imposing the two-state solution. Enough!

7) Countermand Biden’s alliance with Qatar: Qatar is perhaps more directly responsible for the October 7 attacks than Iran. The country houses all of the Hamas leaders and funds Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Taliban. Yet the Biden administration conferred upon the wealthy terror-financing country the status of “a major non-NATO ally” — the same designation we have conferred upon Israel.

Incredibly, the Biden administration has not demanded that Qatar hand over Hamas’ leaders, which would go a long way toward disrupting Hamas and potentially short-circuiting a wider war. Congressional Republicans should move to end this alliance and push to relocate CENTCOM out of Qatar. A more reliable ally such as the United Arab Emirates would be more than happy to house our forces, which should be reduced anyway.

8) Shut our own border: Ending aid to our enemies in the Middle East frees up needed resources to focus on our own border. We know that thousands of people are crossing the southern border illegally every day. How many of them are Hamas and Hezbollah operatives? Republicans should not only attach H.R. 2 (banning catch-and-release) to the homeland security appropriations bill, but they should also include a provision allowing states to deport foreign nationals who are here illegally or who are subverting our culture by promoting Hamas.

9) Cancel visas from terror-supporting countries: Quite apart from the Jews of Israel facing deadly attacks, American Jews are at heightened risk in their own country from rampaging pro-Hamas demonstrators who threaten them with rape and murder. Ultimately, this is a problem for all of us. Republicans need to unite behind a moratorium on immigration and visas from terror-supporting nations, so that we have one refuge in this world for people to feel safe from the jihad Israel is now fighting.

10) Bar terror-supporting countries like Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Qatar from funding religion and education on our soil: An American of the Muslim faith has the right to practice his religion unfettered by government. He also has the right to hate Jews. But an Islamofascist foreign government has no right to fund either mosques or educational institutions on our shores. So much of the hate that is being taught in mosques and in colleges is funded by the Muslim Brotherhood through Turkey or the Qatar Foundation. The mother’s milk of hate and subversion must be cut off, and we should not have enemy nations funding culture here at home.

In many respects, U.S. policy toward Israel is similar to domestic health care policy. We have destroyed the free market in health care for decades, thereby making costs unaffordable for consumers and thus engendering a need for trillion-dollar programs.

Likewise, Israel’s security problems are the result of three decades’ worth of counterproductive U.S. policy, troop placement, ill-conceived strategic alliances, and legitimizing Israel’s enemies. These policies crystallized under the Biden administration, which has literally allied with Iran.

Israel might have a need for some weapons, especially after we raided the stockpile to arm Ukraine’s military, including the rabidly anti-Semitic Azov Brigades. But for now, House Republicans should feel a greater sense of urgency to reverse the Biden policies that have endangered Israel’s security. Sending Israel some money and weapons but then handcuffing it will only bankrupt us further and accomplish nothing.

The Biden administration, which is saturated with Iranian spies, has no problem throwing money at Israel, which will enrich defense contractors but also be used to blackmail Israel into strategic retreat. Conservatives should not fall into the trap of giving Biden anything he wants in order to get aid to Israel. It would be akin to throwing money at the border under current policies, which will only foster more efficient catch-and-release.

Republicans should instead draw a red line around the IRS spending cuts to pay for the aid, then fight the pro-Iran funding and policies in the budget continuing resolution next month. They should be willing to shoot the hostage of aid to Israel if Democrats balk at the spending cuts.

“America first” and “pro-Israel” policies are one and the same because of our shared enemies, shared goals, and shared desire to protect our respective countries from jihad, so long as we don’t allow Biden to turn Israel into another Ukraine.