by Alexis Simendinger & Kristina Karisch
The Biden administration, intent on trying to stave off a civilian catastrophe in Gaza and worried about rising political criticism at home, is urging Israel to pause its war with Hamas long enough to help Palestinian civilians and to try to get more Americans out of danger.
PRESIDENT BIDEN REJECTS calls for a formal cease-fire, believing it’s what Hamas hopes to achieve. The U.K., Canada and the European Union also oppose a cease-fire.
Instead, Biden backs what some world leaders and members of Congress describe as brief humanitarian pauses in airstrikes and ground operations. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Tel Aviv and will talk today with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about such a strategy.
The Hill: Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the second highest-ranking Democrat in the Senate, backs an Israel-Hamas cease-fire, but contingent on release of hostages.
Twelve additional Democratic senators issued a statement late Thursday backing Biden in calling for “a short-term cessation of hostilities,” expanding on a Senate chorus that presented similar humanitarian arguments last month.
People sympathetic to Palestinians’ plight demonstrated for a cease-fire during Biden’s visit to Minnesota on Thursday and one man heckled the president during his speech near Minneapolis. Some protestors vowed to oppose the president’s reelection and said they would work to undercut his support among voters ahead of 2024.
At the same time, House Republicans, led by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), squeezed Democrats on Thursday into passage of a measure that would send nearly $14.5 billion in military aid to Israel, accompanied by cuts to IRS funding. The House version will be blocked in the Senate and is opposed by the president — but more on that debate, below.
BOTTOM LINE: The discord promises to simmer for weeks in Washington and could heighten risks of a shutdown this month amid evolving national security turmoil in the Middle East and in Ukraine.
The White House, which is firmly behind Israel’s “duty” to defend itself and its goal to “eradicate” Hamas, does not dispute Netanyahu’s assertion that the war with Hamas will take months. Israel’s military forces have encircled and now entered Gaza City.
The photos, videos and accounts from Gaza of desperate and dying civilians, including children, invite louder demands for an end to the killing, and that message emanates from the United Nations, humanitarian organizations, inside world capitals and among everyday observers.
The Hill: Israel’s strikes on Palestinian refugee camp spark anger.
We are going to abandon Biden because he has abandoned us,” Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Minnesota, told NBC News.
“I don’t think that this is a rash emotional decision by the American Muslim community. It is a foregone conclusion. … The anger is not going to go away. We don’t have short memories,” Hussein said, noting that he spoke for himself, since CAIR’s non-profit tax status bars it from electioneering. “I still have not heard from any Muslim leader in Minnesota who has said this is a mistake.”
Biden said Thursday that 74 American citizens with dual nationality were among those evacuated so far from Gaza and across the border to Egypt. The U.S. favors pauses in the bombardments to try to get Hamas to release more hostages and let more Americans and foreign passport holders cross the border out of Gaza.
3 Things to Know
- A jury convicted FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried, 31, of all seven counts he faced of fraud and theft of billions of dollars at the conclusion of a much-publicized trial in New York on Thursday.
- Elon Musk told British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during a chummy conversation Thursday that AI will render all jobs obsolete. “There is a safety concern, especially with humanoid robots. At least a car can’t chase you into a building or up a tree,” Musk added somewhat ominously.
- The Beatles released a new song, “Now and Then,” using artificial intelligence technology that added John Lennon’s voice pulled from a demo cassette tape dating to the 1970s. Listen to a tiny snippet of the four-minute result HERE.
Leading the Day
House Republicans on Thursday approved a nearly $14.5 billion Israel aid package, setting the stage for a fierce showdown with Democrats in the Senate and White House who have criticized the bill for excluding Ukraine funds and cutting IRS coffers. The 226-196 vote fell almost entirely along party lines. The White House has threatened to veto the House’s legislation, arguing in a statement that it is “bad for Israel, for the Middle East region, and for our own national security.”
Democrats who supported the bill: Reps. Angie Craig (Minn.), Don Davis (N.C.), Lois Frankel (Fla.), Jared Golden (Maine), Josh Gottheimer (N.J.), Greg Landsman (Ohio), Jared Moskowitz (Fla.), Darren Soto (Fla.), Haley Stevens (Mich.), Juan Vargas (Calif.), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.) and Frederica Wilson (Fla.).
Two Republicans, Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and Thomas Massie (Ky.), voted against the measure.
The Democratic opposition to the bill extends to the Senate, where Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced earlier in the day that his chamber would not take up the “deeply flawed proposal.” Instead, he’s vowing to work with senators in both parties on a package that includes funding for Israel, Ukraine, competition with the Chinese government and humanitarian aid for Gaza.
Still, the vote marks an early victory for newly installed Johnson, who is seeking to unify a warring GOP conference. Johnson on Thursday compared his first full week as the top-ranking member of the House to an intense hurricane.
“Well, I’m from Louisiana,” Johnson said at his first official press conference as Speaker. “So I describe everything in either football or hurricane metaphors.”
The aid package was Johnson’s first big legislative effort as Speaker. It provided a preview of how he plans to steer the House through a number of legislative lifts as the Nov. 17 government funding deadline fast approaches. Johnson’s decision to isolate the Israel funding — and marry it to IRS cuts — was an olive branch to conservatives and it united virtually all of his conference. But the tactics have complicated the path for getting the Israel aid to Biden’s desk, pushing the Senate onto its own strategic path and raising new questions about how the feuding chambers will find compromise almost a month after Hamas’s deadly attacks (The Hill).
Johnson on Thursday said the House will consider Ukraine aid “in short order,” while reiterating that he wants to pair funding for Kyiv with U.S. border security. The comment came after Johnson split Ukraine aid from funding for Israel, a move that frustrated lawmakers on both sides of the aisle (The Hill).
- Politico: “Watch your back”: Johnson squares off with Schumer. By muscling through the Israel bill that slashed a key Democratic priority, Johnson sent a clear message to the Senate leader he’ll have to work with for at least another year.
- Roll Call: Johnson said the House GOP is looking at a new twist to the stopgap funds fight. The Speaker raised the prospect of a “laddered” approach to avoid a partial shutdown.
- The Hill: Intelligence Committee lawmakers tasked with shepherding a bill to reauthorize the government’s warrantless spy powers are considering pushing a short-term extension of the law, saying they need a “Plan B” approach given the looming end-of-year deadline.
IN A REBUKE TO SEN. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-Ala.), the Senate on Thursday approved three senior military nominations, filling crucial positions to lead the Navy, Air Force and Marines that have until now been blocked by his stall on promotions for general and flag officers; but this still leaves nearly 400 nominees in limbo, which the Pentagon has warned is endangering national security during a tense time across the globe. Among the three approved promotions was Adm. Lisa Franchetti for chief of naval operations, making her the first woman to officially lead the Navy (The Hill).
Tuberville has been holding up the promotions for months over the Pentagon’s policy to cover servicemembers’ costs to travel out-of-state to seek abortion services. Senate Democrats are trying a novel strategy to break Tuberville’s blockade of senior military promotions; Schumer announced on Wednesday that he would seek to temporarily go around the chamber’s rules to allow confirmation of almost all military nominees as a bloc. A vote could take place as soon as next week.
While it is not clear that Schumer will have the support for his maneuver, he announced he would attempt it amid mounting frustration among Republicans and at the Defense Department about Tuberville’s nine-month blockade (The New York Times).